The United States said it will join Japan and South Korea in three-way talks in Seoul on Monday to discuss developments in North Korea following its failed rocket launch.
The talks will bring together Glyn Davies, the US special envoy for North Korea, his South Korean counterpart Lim Sung-Nam and the Japanese foreign ministry director general for Asian and Oceanian affairs Shinsuke Sugiyama.
"The meeting is part of an ongoing dialogue among all three countries to exchange views on a wide range of regional and global issues, including North Korea," the State Department said.
The statement confirmed an earlier report from South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
"The meeting is part of an ongoing dialogue among all three countries to exchange views on a wide range of regional and global issues, including North Korea," the State Department said.
"The discussions reflect the close cooperation between the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea, as well as common values and interests across the Asia-Pacific and the globe," it said.
Speculation is growing that the North will stage another nuclear test or a border clash after the failure of its much-hyped launch on April 13.
The North said its aim was only to put a peaceful satellite into orbit.
But the UN Security Council strongly condemned the launch as breaching a ban on the testing of ballistic missile technology, and tightened sanctions.
The envoys are expected to assess the situation "and discuss the possibility of additional provocations from North Korea", Yonhap quoted an unidentified South Korean foreign ministry official as saying.
After the UN censured previous rocket launches in 2006 and 2009, Pyongyang responded with nuclear tests. Satellite photos show work under way at its test site but give no indication of whether or when a test will be staged.
The North in recent months has been intensifying threats against South Korea and insulting its conservative President Lee Myung-Bak in extreme terms.
It accuses his government of insulting behaviour during celebrations in Pyongyang last month to mark the centenary of the birth of founding leader Kim Il-Sung.
Davies will arrive in Seoul on Sunday for a bilateral meeting with Lim Sung-nam, the South Korean special representative for Korean peninsula peace and security issues, the State Department said.
It said Davies will travel to Beijing from May 22-23 to meet with Chinese special representative for Korean peninsula affairs Wu Dawei and other senior Chinese officials to discuss North Korea and other issues.
He will then travel to Tokyo for talks on May 23-25 with senior Japanese government officials, including Sugiyama and the minister for the abduction issue Jin Matsubara, it said.
Davies returns to Washington on May 25.
Source: AFP American Edition
