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(LEAD) 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 the next step in efforts to bring North Korea back to six-way talks, following the resumption of North Korea-U.S. dialogue, the foreign ministry said Monday.
"Wi Sung-lac, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, will visit Russia from Dec. 16 till Dec. 19," ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said.
Wi will hold a meeting with his Russian counterpart Alexei Borodavkin on Thursday as part of continuing consultations among the North's five dialogue partners "on the current situation related to the North Korean nuclear issue and discuss future steps," he added.
Another ministry official, asking not to be named, said that Wi will compare notes with Borodavkin about the results of a trip to Pyongyang last week by Stephen Bosworth, the U.S. special envoy on the North.
Bosworth sat down last week 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 member nations.
North Korea and the U.S. are widely expected to have more contact to discuss detailed conditions for reconvening 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. His exact schedule has yet to be set, the official said.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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