U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will attend the inauguration of South Korean President-elect Lee Myung-bak next month, an aide to Lee said Thursday, quoting a visiting U.S. official.
"President George W. Bush plans to send Secretary of State Rice as part of his delegation to congratulate Lee on his inauguration," Lee's spokesperson Joo Ho-young quoted Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill as saying during a meeting with Lee earlier in the day.
Lee, who won the presidency in Dec. 19, will be sworn in on Feb. 25.
"The president-elect told Hill he would visit Washington as soon as possible, giving an answer to Bush's wish of a prompt summit," Joo added.
Lee and Hill met during Hill's three-day visit to South Korea and discussed the North Korean nuclear standoff and other issues of mutual interest.
A definite summit schedule has yet to be arranged, but Lee is expected to visit Washington as early as March under his key diplomatic policy to strengthen South Korea's alliance with the United States, aides said.
Hill also told Lee that it would be encouraging for North Korea to fully declare its nuclear programs before the launch of South Korea's new government, and take steps toward complete disablement of its nuclear facilities during Lee's five-year term.
Lee agreed, adding that the human rights issue in North Korea must not be approached strategically.
The two Koreas and the United States, along with China, Japan and Russia, are members of the six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
Under an October agreement, North Korea is supposed to complete the disablement of its main nuclear facilities and submit a complete declaration of its nuclear programs in return for economic and political incentives from the other five parties.
The six countries had set a Dec. 31 deadline for the North to fully disclose its nuclear programs, but the North has stalled the disablement process, complaining about a delay in the delivery of economic incentives.
The incoming Lee administration is expected to take a tougher stance toward the communist regime, in comparison with the incumbent Roh Moo-hyun government. Lee emphasized that he will only discuss normal trade with the North after it completely dismantles its nuclear weapons program.
In 2003, then U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell visited Seoul to congratulate Roh on his inauguration.