SEOUL, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Diplomats are in a frenzy to end North Korea's nuclear drive as cautious optimism prevails for the upcoming round of six-nation nuclear talks next month.
North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator Kim Kye Gwan is expected to visit New York early next month to follow up last week's landmark agreement on scrapping Pyongyang's nuclear programs -- a meeting that could serve a critical occasion to resolve the years-long nuclear standoff.
Kim will meet his U.S. counterpart Christopher Hill to discuss follow-up measures to the nuclear accord, Seoul's Yonhap News Agency Friday.
"Kim is expected to visit New York early next week to take part in a working group meeting on normalizing U.S.-North Korea relations," a source in Washington was quoted as saying. "No date has been set for his visit, but it is likely to last from March 5 through 7," the source said.
Han Song Ryol, the North's deputy ambassador at the United Nations, has recently met U.S. officials to prepare for Kim's New York trip, the agency said.
The working group is one of five to be created as a result of the nuclear agreement reached in Beijing on Feb. 13, in which North Korea agreed to shut down its plutonium-producing reactor at Yongbyon, north of Pyongyang, within 60 days and admit U.N. nuclear inspectors. In return, it will receive 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil or equivalent assistance.
The energy-starved communist nation will also receive an additional 950,000 tons of heavy fuel oil or other equivalent as soon as it completes "disabling all existing nuclear facilities, including graphite-moderated reactors and reprocessing plant" by an unspecified date.
The other four working groups would handle specific issues such as denuclearization, regional security, Japan-North Korea relations, and North Korean energy needs. The working group should be set up within 30 days from the Feb. 13 agreement.
Chun Yung-woo, South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, refused to confirm the report on Kim's U.S. trip, but acknowledged that Hill and Kim had agreed to hold the first meeting of the proposed working group in New York to discuss bilateral diplomatic ties.
Chun also said his country plans to arrange the first meeting of a working group on energy and economic assistance for North Korea during the week of March 12.
"We plan to arrange the meeting after reviewing the other working groups, but we are working to hold the meeting in the week of March 12," he told a group of foreign journalists Friday.
Chun said there would be a series of high-level talks between South Korea and the United States early next month to discuss the North's nuclear weapons programs. "The talks would be focused on discussing smooth implementation of the Feb. 13 accord and long-term measures to end the North's nuclear problem," he said.
South Korea's Foreign Minister Song Min-soon is scheduled to visit Washington early March to meet Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Just ahead of the visit, Baek Jong-chun, chief presidential secretary for security policy, will visit Washington.
In return, U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Jack Crouch will visit Seoul next week. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte would also travel to South Korea, Japan and China early next month to discuss the North's nuclear weapons programs.
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson also plans to make a trip to South Korea in early March for talks that may include the U.S. financial sanctions on North Korea, which has been poised as one of the key stumbling blocks in the nuclear negotiations.
According to a Seoul newspaper, Rice is likely to travel to North Korea once Pyongyang takes initial steps toward denuclearization. Rice's North Korea trip was agreed at a meeting in January between Hill and Kim, the Kyunghyang Shinmun reported, quoting diplomatic sources in Beijing, Tokyo and Washington.
Chun said Seoul has not been informed of Rice's reported North Korea trip. He cautioned there was a "long way to go" to resolve the nuclear standoff.
He also called for international efforts to force the North to fully abide by the nuclear accord. "What is important is not to give any excuse to North Korea to delay its denuclearization obligations and avoid implementation of its end of the deal," he said.
Chun will meet his counterparts from the North, the United States, China, Japan and Russia on March 19 for the next round of six-party nuclear talks that would be focused on reviewing progress.
