U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in South Korea on Sunday to discuss North Korea's missile and nuclear threats and other pending issues.
It is his first visit to South Korea since February last year.Shortly after flying from Beijing, he headed to a dinner meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, according to diplomatic sources.
Yun and Kerry also plan to hold bilateral talks at the Foreign Ministry on Monday.
Ministry officials said the two would mainly discuss preparations for summit talks between the leaders of the two nations in Washington next month, and also enhancing the bilateral alliance, with regional security currently at a sensitive juncture.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un allegedly purged his defense minister, Hyon Yong-chol, after a show of disloyalty and disrespect. The communist nation also fired hundreds of rounds of artillery shells last week in live-fire drills near the western sea border with the South.
On Monday, Kerry is scheduled to pay a courtesy call on President Park Geun-hye. He will then visit the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command and deliver a lecture on cybersecurity at Korea University before heading back to the United States.
In Beijing, Kerry met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The top U.S. diplomat called on North Korea "to live up to its international obligations," saying its "destabilizing behaviors are unacceptable." (Yonhap)