hankyoreh

North Korea's top nuclear negotiator will visit San Francisco next Thursday before going to New York the following day for talks with U.S. officials, a well-informed source said Friday.

Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan, also chief delegate to the six-party talks, has been invited to make a speech at Stanford University, the source said. He will then travel to New York and speak at the Asia Society.

Kim represented Pyongyang at the six-party talks which on Feb. 13 produced an agreement on the phased denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea agreed to shut down and seal its primary nuclear reactor within 60 days and in return receive energy aid from the other members of the talks -- South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan.

The agreement also establishes five working groups, one of which is on the normalization of Washington-Pyongyang diplomatic relations. The groups are to convene within 30 days of the Feb. 13 agreement.

A South Korean official said Thursday it was up to the U.S. and North Korea to determine the nature of Kim's visit, adding that they may decide to call the talks with Kim the start of the diplomatic normalization working group.

The North Korean envoy is expected to meet his U.S. counterpart, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, during his stay in New York.


Washington, Feb. 23 (Yonhap News)