By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
Chun Young-woo, second vice foreign minister, will visit New York to meet with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and senior U.S. State Department officials between Jan. 22 and 27, a ministry spokesman said Thursday.
This is the first U.S. trip by Chun, who has served as chief negotiator to the six-party denuclearization talks and ambassador to Britain since he assumed the post on Dec. 16 last year.
"On Friday, he will pay a courtesy call to Secretary General Ban and discuss relief efforts for earthquake-hit Haiti and other international issues," ministry spokesman Kim Young-sun said.
Then, he will fly to Washington to meet with U.S. officials, including Deputy Secretary of State James B. Steinberg and Ellen Tauscher, under secretary of state for arms control and international security.
Chun is expected to discuss issues regarding arms reduction and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons ahead of the Nuclear Security Summit scheduled for April and the Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty slated for May, the spokesman said.