The top U.S. envoy to nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea will return to the region late next week to meet key allies, but there are no indications a resumption of six-nation negotiations with Pyongyang are imminent, the State Department said Friday. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill will visit Seoul on January 19, Beijing the next day, and Tokyo on January 21, department deputy spokesman Tom Casey told reporters. “The purpose of those talks … will be to continue consultations with our key partners in the six-party talks on how we might achieve progress in the next round,” he said. Casey declined to predict whether Hill's trip could lead to a quick resumption of the multilateral talks, which involve the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan, and Russia. He also said he had no information on when the six countries, which last held talks in December, might meet next. “I don't have any information for you on when the next round might take place,” Casey said. “Certainly, we would like to see it take place as soon as possible, but only if there's sufficient preparation for it and reasons to believe that we will make progress.” Last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met in Washington with South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon and said the six-nation talks could resume “fairly soon” if Pyongyang signals it is ready for constructive denuclearization steps. North Korea, which carried out a nuclear test on October 9, has so far refused to implement a September 2005 agreement under which it agreed to abandon its nuclear-weapons program in return for the prospect of economic aid and security guarantees.
