SEOUL, Nov. 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's nuclear envoy will visit the United States next week for consultations on North Korea's nuclear issue in the wake of U.S. President Barack Obama's re-election, a Seoul official said Friday.

   Lee Do-hoon, Seoul's deputy chief envoy for the six-nation talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear weapons program, will meet with Clifford Hart, Washington's special envoy for the six-party talks and other U.S. officials on a three-day trip beginning Monday.

   The envoys "plan to assess the recent situation on the Korean Peninsula and discuss future ways to deal with North Korea," the foreign ministry official said on the condition of anonymity.

   Obama was elected to a second term last week and South Korea is set to elect a new leader on Dec. 19.

   This week, South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan said fresh efforts will likely be launched to re-open the six-party talks once leadership changes are completed in some of the countries involved in the long-stalled dialogue.

   Kim also voiced hope that the U.S. and North Korea would resume one-on-one dialogue if the communist country takes proper steps to restore trust lost when it broke a food-for-nuclear freeze deal reached with Washington early this year.

   The six-party talks, which put together the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan, have been stalled since late 2008 following disagreement over an aid-for-denuclearization deal.

   kdh@yna.co.kr
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