Chief U.S. nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill will arrive here around midnight Tuesday from Beijing to explore ways of advancing the six-way talks on North Korea's denuclearization, officials said.
Hill, also Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, will also make preparations for a regional trip by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, they added. Rice is to lead a presidential delegation to attend the inaugural ceremony of President-elect Lee Myung-Bak next Monday.
``He is coming here at very late night,’’ Max M. Kwak, press attache at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul said. He refused to give the exact time, citing a policy of not confirming the schedules of visiting U.S. officials.
A Foreign Ministry official said that Hill will arrive at the Incheon International Airport around midnight.
While meeting with reporters Monday in Beijing, the first leg of his three-nation Asian tour, Hill stressed his frustration over what he said is Pyongyang's recalcitrance to fully declare its nuclear arsenal.
``We're stuck on the need for a complete and correct declaration,’’ he said. The six-way talks on the nuclear crisis have been deadlocked since the U.S. claimed the North failed to meet the year-end deadline to provide the declaration.
Hill said he has no plan yet to meet with any North Korean negotiator during his trip this time, but would not preclude the possibility of a surprise gathering. (Yonhap)