The top security advisor to South Korean President Park Geun-hye plans to visit the United States next week for talks about the North Korean nuclear standoff and bilateral security issues, a news report and an official said Friday.
Kim Jang-soo, the chief of the presidential national security office, plans to meet with the White House national security advisor, Susan Rice, and other senior foreign affairs and security officials during the trip, the Dong-a Ilbo newspaper reported.
A presidential official said Kim plans to visit the U.S., but details have yet to be worked out.
Kim's trip comes as South Korea prepares to hold high-level security talks with China next month. The planned talks are part of an agreement reached at a summit in June between Park and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The trip also comes after North Korea apparently restarted a long-mothballed nuclear reactor at its main Yongbyon nuclear complex, a move that would provide Pyongyang with enough plutonium for one nuclear bomb a year.
Bilateral issues between Seoul and Washington include Seoul's request for a delay in the planned transfer in 2015 of wartime operational command of South Korean troops from Washington to Seoul. South Korea made the request, citing growing threats from North Korea. (Yonhap News)
