Sung Kim, the US special envoy for the six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear drive, will shortly travel to Asia and Russia to discuss how to respond to Pyongyang's recent nuclear and missile tests, Japanese lawmakers who met him said.
Kim will visit Japan, China and South Korea plus Russia — all parties to the six-way talks, said Taku Yamasaki, a former deputy president of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, at a news conference yesterday.
Yamasaki leads a ruling party delegation that is visiting the United States with a view to encouraging other six-party member nations to craft a strong and effective UN Security Council resolution punishing North Korea for its behaviour.
The delegation also includes former Defense Agency chief Gen Nakatani of the LDP and Shigeki Sato, a lawmaker in the New Komeito party, the LDP's junior coalition partner.
They held talks with officials from China, South Korea and Russia in New York on Wednesday. In Washington yesterday, they met with Kim along with William Burns, undersecretary of state for political affairs, and Michele Flournoy, undersecretary of defense for policy.
