Japanese nuclear envoy to visit Seoul this week

Japan's top nuclear envoy will travel to Korea this week to discuss the North Korean nuclear issue following the death of Kim Jong-il, a Seoul official said Wednesday.

Shinsuke Sugiyama will meet with his Korean counterpart Lim Sung-nam during his two-day visit to South Korea from Thursday, the foreign ministry official said on the condition of anonymity.

His trip comes before Seoul, Tokyo and Washington hold high-level three-way talks on the issue.

Lim and Sugiyama will "assess and exchange views on the situation on the Korean Peninsula after the passing of Kim Jong-il, and consult on the way forward regarding the North Korean nuclear issue," the official said.

This week, Lim held talks in Beijing with his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei, while accompanying a three-day state visit by President Lee Myung-bak to China. It was Lim's second meeting with Wu since the death of Kim, although details of their meeting were not disclosed.

South Korea, the U.S. and Japan plan to hold a trilateral meeting of their senior diplomats in Washington next week for consultations on North Korea after the death of Kim, Seoul officials said.

The three nations have been in discussions to finalize a date for the meeting among Lim, Sugiyama and Kurt Campbell, Washington's top diplomat on Asia.

Making a visit to Seoul last week, Campbell told reporters, "Our three-way coordination remains strong, and we look forward to hosting a trilateral meeting in Washington at an early date."

Since the death of Kim, his youngest son and chosen heir, Kim Jong-un, has taken the helm of North Korea and the power transfer seems to be running smoothly. Still, it remains unclear whether the North's new leadership is willing to hold talks with the outside world.

The six-party talks, which involve the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the U.S., have been dormant since late 2008, but efforts to get North Korea back to the negotiating table gained some momentum last year.

Days before Kim died of a heart attack on Dec. 17, North Korea and the U.S. held talks in Beijing. Pyongyang had been poised to announce an agreement with Washington to suspend its uranium enrichment program and accept U.N. nuclear monitors in exchange for food aid.

Such moves by North Korea were preconditions set by South Korea and the U.S. for resuming the six-party talks. (Yonhap)