British envoy in Seoul to visit Pyongyang next week: source

SEOUL, Nov. 1 (Yonhap) -- The top British envoy in Seoul will fly to Pyongyang next week for a routine consultation with his country's embassy there, a South Korean diplomatic source said Saturday.

The visit by British Ambassador to South Korea Martin Uden comes as speculation
continues to mount over the health of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who is
believed to have refrained from official events since mid-August amid rumors that
he has recently suffered a stroke.
Uden's visit to Pyongyang, which will take place via Beijing early next week,
according to the source, also comes as the European Union moves to step up its
aid to North Korea in an effort to push the communist state to give up its
nuclear weapons.
Britain, one of the leading foreign investors in North Korea, set up diplomatic
ties with the communist country in 2000. It established its embassy in Pyongyang
the following year, and the North opened its embassy in London in 2003.
"Britain has an embassy and an ambassador in Pyongyang, but they need to consult
with the embassy in Seoul if the need arises," the source said. "The scheduled
visit will be of such a nature."
The British Embassy in Seoul could not immediately be reached for comment.
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