|
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will go on a whistlestop tour of four Asian nations - Korea, China, Japan and Thailand - from July 8 through 13 to discuss North Korea¡¯s nuclear weapons program and other issues, the State Department said Tuesday.
The exact date of her stopover in Korea has yet to be decided, but the two sides tentatively agreed next Tuesday or Wednesday.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Rice will discuss political and economic issues of bilateral concern as well as regional matters of mutual interest such as the North¡¯s nuclear dispute, the fight against terrorism, and tsunami recovery and reconstruction efforts.
He said efforts to resume six-party talks on Pyonyang¡¯s nuclear program would certainly feature on the agenda. He reiterated the need for North Korea to return to the talks for constructive discussion but said Washington had not yet heard from the North that it would do so.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
|
