Rice to visit Seoul on Asia farewell trip

SEOUL, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice intends to visit South Korea next month as part of a farewell trip to Asia, a South Korean government official says.

The unnamed official told the South Korean news agency Yonhap that Rice is scheduled to make a one-day trip to Seoul around Jan. 8, with the main goal of the trip to attend a Beijing ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the establishment of U.S.-China diplomatic ties.

Rice, however, may cancel her trip because of the deepening crisis in the Middle East in the wake of Israel airstrikes on positions held by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Yonhap said that if the Seoul visit does go forward, Rice would likely pay a courtesy call to President Lee Myung-bak and meet with her South Korean counterpart, Yu Myung-hwan.