S. Korea, US, Japan to hold high-level talks on N. Korea: Campbell

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- South Korea, the United States and Japan have agreed to hold a meeting of their senior diplomats dealing with the North Korea issue, an official confirmed Friday.

"I think we’ve agreed that we’ll be holding a meeting in the near future," Kurt Campbell, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, told reporters in Tokyo, according to a transcript released by the State Department.

He was replying to a question on a news report that the allies will hold high-level talks in Washington on Jan. 16 to discuss next steps on North Korea after the change in North Korea's leadership.

Campbell said a date has not been fixed yet. He is on a five-day tour of China, South Korea and Japan, his first regional trip since the death of the North's leader, Kim Jong-il, in December.

"I think the exact date, we are still coordinating among our partners," he said.

On the rumor of an explosion at a North Korean light-water nuclear reactor, he said he has no information.

"I’ve just heard that rumor, but I’ve heard nothing further. I can’t confirm or deny, and I just simply don’t know," he said.

The rumor, fast spreading in South Korea, rattled the country's stock market on Friday, although the local authorities dismissed it as groundless.