SEOUL, June 27 (UPI) -- South Korea's top security official will visit Washington this week to brief U.S. officials on his recent meetings with North Koreans.
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young's trip to the United States from June 29 to July 3 comes amid growing hopes that North Korea will rejoin stalled six-nation talks on its nuclear weapons program.
Chung met North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang earlier this month and led a South Korean delegation at high-level talks with North Korea in Seoul last week.
Chung quoted Kim as saying that North Korea was willing to resume the talks as early as July if the United States respects the country as a partner.
"Minister Chung is scheduled to explain pending issues to and exchange opinions with U.S. government officials and congressional leaders," Chung's spokesman Kim Hong Jae said in a press briefing Monday.
