ID :
189115
Thu, 06/16/2011 - 22:52
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https://oananews.org//node/189115
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S. Korean, U.S. top diplomats to discuss bilateral, global issues
By Lee Chi-dong
WASHINGTON, June 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, plan to discuss bilateral alliance issues and partnerships on global affairs when they hold talks here next week, the State Department said Thursday.
In her first press briefing as the department's spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland provided few details about Kim's three-day trip scheduled to begin next Thursday.
"I think we will be able to give you a more detailed pre-brief as we come to next week," she said. "But I think we can be confident we'll obviously talk about the bilateral relationship. We'll talk about regional security, and we'll talk about the work that we do together in the international community."
The Kim-Clinton talks come amid media reports of possible rifts between Seoul and Washington over specific ways to deal with North Korea, which refuses to apologize for its two deadly attacks on the South last year.
The South is under pressure to explore ways to restart dialogue with the North to pave the way for Pyongyang-Washington talks and the six-way negotiations on the communist nation's nuclear weapons drive.
The Obama administration is also seen as flexing its muscle to resume food aid to North Korea, which South Korean officials appear to regard as premature.
Nuland, a veteran diplomat who worked as ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) from 2005-2008, also did not give an answer with regard to Pyongyang's demand that Seoul repatriate nine North Koreans who had defected by boat last month, saying she had not yet seen the reports.
WASHINGTON, June 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, plan to discuss bilateral alliance issues and partnerships on global affairs when they hold talks here next week, the State Department said Thursday.
In her first press briefing as the department's spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland provided few details about Kim's three-day trip scheduled to begin next Thursday.
"I think we will be able to give you a more detailed pre-brief as we come to next week," she said. "But I think we can be confident we'll obviously talk about the bilateral relationship. We'll talk about regional security, and we'll talk about the work that we do together in the international community."
The Kim-Clinton talks come amid media reports of possible rifts between Seoul and Washington over specific ways to deal with North Korea, which refuses to apologize for its two deadly attacks on the South last year.
The South is under pressure to explore ways to restart dialogue with the North to pave the way for Pyongyang-Washington talks and the six-way negotiations on the communist nation's nuclear weapons drive.
The Obama administration is also seen as flexing its muscle to resume food aid to North Korea, which South Korean officials appear to regard as premature.
Nuland, a veteran diplomat who worked as ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) from 2005-2008, also did not give an answer with regard to Pyongyang's demand that Seoul repatriate nine North Koreans who had defected by boat last month, saying she had not yet seen the reports.
