S. Korean FM to visit U.N. next week

SEOUL, Sept. 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan will visit the United Nations headquarters in New York next week to hold a series of bilateral talks and attend various multilateral meetings on nuclear safety, U.N. reforms and aid to East Africa, his ministry said Thursday. During the five-day trip starting Tuesday, the minister will accompany President Lee Myung-bak to the 66th U.N. General Assembly and co-chair a high-level meeting on nuclear safety, ministry spokesman Cho Byung-jae said during a press briefing. The nuclear safety conference, scheduled for Sept. 22, aims to boost international cooperation in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, he said. The conference comes as South Korea is expected to take a central role in discussing the issue during a nuclear security summit in Seoul next March. More than 50 heads of state are expected to take part in the two-day summit. Kim will also meet with his counterparts from some 10 nations, including Japan, Britain and the United Arab Emirates, for bilateral talks on issues of mutual interest, Cho said. Also on the agenda is a high-level conference on U.N. reforms, which will focus on ways to strengthen representation, democracy and responsibility within the U.N. Security Council. On the last day of his trip, Kim will attend an international conference aimed at rallying support for famine-struck nations in the Horn of Africa. He plans to announce South Korea's plans to provide further aid. South Korea has so far pledged a total of US$5 million in aid toward famine relief in Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and Djibouti.