(2nd LD) Foreign minister to visit Beijing for talks on N. Korea

(ATTN: RECASTS paras 5-7; ADDS comments on new U.S. envoy in last 4 paras)
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Feb. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said
Tuesday that he will meet senior Chinese officials to "brainstorm" on how to
counter the latest North Korean missile threat and break a deadlock in the
six-party talks on its nuclear ambitions.
"Rather than making a specific proposal on the issues, I plan to have a
brainstorming session there," the minister told reporters before heading to
Beijing later in the day.
During his two-day stay in the Chinese capital, Yu will hold talks his
counterpart Yang Jiechi, the first between the two this year.
Yu is also scheduled to pay a courtesy call on Premier Wen Jiabao Tuesday
afternoon and meet Wang Jiarui, head of the Chinese Communist Party's
International Department, on Wednesday.
Wang visited Pyongyang late last month, becoming the first foreign guest to meet
with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il since reports that he had suffered a stroke
last August. Speculations persist about Kim's recovery and power succession.
Intelligence suggests North Korea has recently resumed its ballistic missile
activity, and analysts who scrutinized satellite photos say it seems to have
almost completed preparations for a long-range missile launch from a base on its
east coast.
The minister said, however, that South Korea has detected no signs of an
immediate launch.
Yu added the bilateral trade issue will be also high on agenda. He pointed out
that South Korea's trade with China accounts for 24 percent of the total trade
volume of South Korea's economy, the world's 13th largest.
Yu warned against the possible temptation to shift to protectionism amid the
global economic woes.
The minister's visit comes after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton toured
South Korea, China, Japan, and Indonesia last week.
In his talks with the Chinese minister later Tuesday, Yu said he will share the
results of their respective talks with the secretary.
Yu will be accompanied by Seoul's top nuclear negotiator, Kim Sook, but Kim has
no plan for a separate meeting with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, who
is now outside of Beijing, according to the minister. Wu chairs the disarmament
talks whose other members are the United States, Russia, and Japan.
With regard to the newly-appointed U.S. special representative for North Korea,
Stephen Bosworth, Yu said he is unlikely to travel to Pyongyang in the coming
weeks.
"He is expected to first visit South Korea, China, Japan and Russia in March,"
the minister said. "It would be hard for him to go to North Korea before then."
In Washington, the State Department said Monday that the former U.S. ambassador
to Seoul will lead the U.S. delegation to the nuclear talks.
"Ambassador Bosworth is the lead for the United States," deputy spokesman Gordon
Duguid said, quelling speculation that Sung Kim, special envoy for the six-party
talks, would do so on behalf of Bosworth who wants to keep his job as a college
dean in Massachusetts.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)