U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's two-day visit to Seoul next week offers a chance for progress on the international standoff with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program, a senior South Korean official said Wednesday. Rice's July 12-13 trip to South Korea _ part of an Asia-wide tour including China, Thailand and Japan _ "will be a good opportunity to have substantial discussions for an early resumption" of stalled multination nuclear talks, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon told reporters. North Korea has for the past year boycotted those negotiations aimed at shutting down its nuclear program, which U.S. officials believe already has produced at least two atomic bombs. The talks include the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia. Previous meetings have been held in Beijing. Ban said Rice's stops in China, Japan and South Korea are part of diplomatic efforts to "create a favorable atmosphere for North Korea" to return to the table. Rice will meet with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and other officials over the nuclear impasse, Ban was quoted as saying by The Associated Press.
