US ambassador to UN will visit Seoul this week

By Kang Seung-woo

Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will visit South Korea later this week to discuss North Korea’s nuclear issue, according to a diplomatic source, Wednesday.

“Ambassador Power plans to arrive in South Korea, Saturday, on a four-day visit,” said the source.

It is rare for a U.S. ambassador to the U.N. to travel to South Korea. It will be her first visit to Korea since she assumed the position in 2013.

Her trip comes as the U.N. is working on new sanctions against North Korea following its recent nuclear test and missile launches.

Pyongyang carried out its fifth nuclear test on Sept. 9 ― its most powerful so far ― along with a series of ballistic missile tests, both of which violated existing U.N. resolutions.

According to the source, Power will meet Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and other ranking diplomatic officials to exchange views on a fresh resolution being negotiated at the U.N.

Demand is growing that the new resolution under consideration should include measures aimed at covering what many see as “loopholes” in the previous ones.

However, since the latest nuclear test, U.N. negotiations on a new resolution are making little progress due to China’s lukewarm stance.

So while in Seoul, she is expected to hold talks with South Korean officials seeking to change Beijing’s position.

Power is regarded as one of the key figures in the security and foreign policy sector of the Barack Obama administration.

She joined the Obama camp in 2008 and served for four years as a special assistant to the president and senior director for multilateral affairs and human rights at the National Security Council. Power also proposed the use of military force on humanitarian grounds in Libya while in the White House.

In June 2013, Power was nominated as U.S. ambassador to the U.N., replacing Susan Rice, who now serves as national security advisor.