Seoul's chief nuclear envoy to coordinate N.K. dialogue strategy with Japan

SEOUL, June 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's chief nuclear envoy said Tuesday he will discuss with his Japanese counterpart ways to revive dialogue with North Korea, after the communist state recently declared a break-off in relations with Seoul.
During his two-day visit to Tokyo that starts Tuesday, Wi Sung-lac is scheduled to meet Shinsuke Sugiyama, Japan's chief envoy to the stalled six-party denuclearization talks, and discuss recent developments in inter-Korean relations as well as details of their latest exchanges with other member nations to the multilateral forum, according to the foreign ministry here.
"Since North Korea recently announced it will no longer engage with the South, there's a need to strengthen the (three-step) approach that starts with inter-Korean dialogue," Wi said in a phone interview before departing for Tokyo.
Seoul has been pushing for a three-step approach that puts inter-Korean dialogue before the resumption of talks between Washington and Pyongyang, and the revival of the six-party negotiations.
"It's important to strengthen cooperation among South Korea, Japan and the United States regarding ways to resume the six-party talks. Japan is an important partner that has agreed with our approach from the start," he said.
Wi's trip comes amid a flurry of diplomacy among the six-party nations to improve inter-Korean ties and create the right atmosphere for resuming the forum that was last held in December 2008. The envoy traveled to Beijing last week to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Wu Dawei, and held talks with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and Russia's deputy nuclear envoy, Grigory Logvinov, in Seoul on Friday.
Tensions have been high on the Korean Peninsula since last year's two deadly attacks against South Korea that are both blamed on the North and Pyongyang's revelation of a uranium enrichment facility that could be used for building nuclear weapons.
North Korea has further chilled the mood for inter-Korean dialogue in recent weeks, saying it will no longer deal with the Seoul government and divulging details of a series of secret meetings held between the sides.
The six-way talks, also including North Korea, China, Russia and the United States, aim to dismantle Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal through economic and political incentives.
hague@yna.co.kr
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