Clinton to visit Seoul this weekend at earliest

By Kang Hyun-kyung

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to visit Seoul this weekend at the earliest, a foreign ministry official said Monday.

“Her Seoul schedule has not been fixed. We will brief on her Seoul visit once the schedule is set,” the official said, asking not to be named.

Another official said Clinton may arrive here over this weekend before her trip to Tokyo.

Clinton’s visit comes nine months after the so-called “2+2” meeting, where defense and foreign ministers of South Korea and the United States met to exchange views on security and regional agendas.

At the press conference held last July after the meeting, she previewed the country-specific sanctions to be imposed on North Korea for its torpedoing the 1,300-ton warship Cheonan near the maritime border in the West Sea last March.

The attack claimed the lives of 46 South Korean sailors.

Asked if Clinton has any particular security or foreign policy agenda items to discuss with her counterpart here, the foreign ministry official said it is unlikely.

“As I understand, there are no urgent issues that brought her to be here,” he said, adding it has been a while since she has been in Seoul.

His remarks indicated that Clinton’s visit was to show the strong alliance between Seoul and Washington.

Clinton is reportedly to meet Kim Sung-hwan, minister of foreign affairs and trade, and then will pay a courtesy visit to President Lee Myung-bak.

Observers say it will be natural for Kim and Clinton to exchange views on North Korea’s enriched uranium program and the stalled nuclear talks.

Earlier Seoul and Washington agreed that the North’s uranium program should be addressed at the U.N. Security Council (UNSC).

But China opposed this, insisting that the uranium issue will be discussed at the six-party talks.

Seoul and Washington also called on Pyongyang to take “necessary steps” to restart the nuclear talks.

They echoed that the North should come up with specific actions that can send an unmistakable message that it will change its course of action.

But China again disagreed, calling for the resumption of the talks without any conditions.

Before the Seoul trip, Clinton will take part in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) foreign ministers’ talk to be held on April 14 and 15 in Berlin, Germany.

Meanwhile, Wi Sung-lac, South Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator, will head to the United States Tuesday to meet officials there.

Foreign ministry officials said the list of officials and experts that the chief nuclear negotiator will meet in the United States was not confirmed yet.