Seoul's nuke envoy to visit U.S. for revival of 6-party talks

South Korea's chief nuclear envoy will visit the United States this week to discuss ways to resume multinational talks on North Korea's nuclear disarmament, Seoul's foreign ministry said Sunday. During his six-day visit that begins on Tuesday, Wi Sung-lac is scheduled to meet three U.S. officials on North Korea Stephen Bosworth, special representative for North Korea policy; Kurt Campbell, Assistant Secretary of State; and Clifford Hart, new envoy for the six-party talks to have dialogue about North Korea's nuclear program and the long-dormant six-party negotiations, the ministry said. The nuclear talks, aimed at dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal through economic and political incentives, have been stalled since December 2008 due to North Korea's boycott and tensions over its two deadly attacks on the South last year. The talks involve the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia. The working-level meeting aims to fine-tune the agenda for the bilateral talks between South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and his counterpart, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, officials noted. The meeting is slated for June 24 in Washington. Tensions have been high on the Korean Peninsula since last year's two deadly attacks against South Korea that are both blamed on the North and Pyongyang's revelation of a uranium enrichment facility that could be used for building nuclear weapons. North Korea has further chilled the mood for inter-Korean dialogue in recent weeks, saying it will no longer deal with the Seoul government and divulging details of a series of secret meetings held between the sides.