SEOUL, June 19 (UPI) -- South Korea says it is sending its top nuclear envoy to Washington this week to discuss getting disarmament talks with North Korea back on track.
Wi Sung-lac plans to meet with his U.S. counterparts during his six-day trip that begins Tuesday, the foreign ministry announced Sunday.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency said Wi's meetings are a run-up to bilateral talks June 24 between Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
One of the goals of the meetings is to explore ways of resuming the six-nation negotiations over North Korea's nuclear weapons program. The United States and the two Koreas were joined at the table by China, Russia and Japan.
The negotiations have been derailed by North Korea's refusal to deal with Seoul and by a pair of military clashes between the two neighbors last year.
