S. Korean nuke envoy to visit Russia this week

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Dec. 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's chief nuclear envoy will visit Moscow
later this week to discuss ways to deal with a nuclear-armed North Korea,
following the resumption of North Korea-U.S. dialogue, a diplomatic source here
said Monday.
"Wi Sung-lac, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security
affairs, plans to leave for Russia on Wednesday to meet Russian officials. He is
scheduled to return to Seoul on Saturday," the source said.
Wi's trip is part of Seoul's consultations with the other parties in the six-way
nuclear talks in the wake of a trip to Pyongyang last week by Stephen Bosworth,
U.S. official in charge of U.S. policy on the North, the source added.
Bosworth met with North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok-ju and they
hammered out a "common understanding" on the need to restart the six-party
negotiations also involving China and Japan. But the two sides failed to agree on
a date for a new round of six-way talks. China, chair of the forum, usually sets
a schedule through consultations with the other five nations.
North Korea and the U.S. are widely expected to have more contact to discuss
detailed conditions for the resumption of the negotiations that have been stalled
for a year.
Bosworth visited South Korea, China, and Japan to brief them on the outcome of
his three-day trip to the North and talk about the next step. He is also on a
trip to Russia.
The South Korean nuclear negotiator Wi is also considering traveling to China and
Japan and exact schedules have yet to be coordinated, according to the source.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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