'Clinton to visit Seoul over naval tragedy'

By Lee Tae-hoon
Staff reporter



U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit Seoul later this month to discuss diplomatic coordination between Seoul and Washington over the sinking of the South Korean Navy frigate Cheonan on March 26, sources said Friday.

Clinton's visit will likely take place after her scheduled trip to Beijing from May 24 to 25 for a "strategic and economic" dialogue, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Clinton was reportedly considering including Japan on her itinerary.

"We're still looking at other stops in conjunction with her trip to China next week, but obviously, we should finalize those details soon," Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley said Wednesday.

However, both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the U.S. Embassy in Seoul told The Korea Times that they had yet to be informed of any visit to Seoul.

Clinton's trip to South Korea, if realized, will come shortly after a multinational team announces the result of its investigation into the naval incident around May 20.

Earlier this week, Clinton called Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo to discuss the "ongoing investigation and its potential ramifications once the investigation is completed."

Investigators, including experts from the United States, Britain, Australia and Sweden, have tentatively concluded that a torpedo fired from a submarine was the cause of the sinking.

Seoul and Washington have not named North Korea as the culprit in the disaster, which took the lives of 46 sailors.

However, they have agreed not to resume the stalled six-party talks until after the cause is determined, and to begin discussing possible responses if Pyongyang is found responsible.

They have recently held discussions on North Korea and other bilateral and regional security issues, such as the transfer of wartime operational control from the U.S. to South Korea, according to sources.

James Steinberg, U.S. deputy secretary of state, supported Seoul's position Monday, saying the incident "will have an impact on how we proceed in dealing with the challenge of North Korea and its actions, not only on the nuclear front, but in other provocative measures that it takes."

Any resolution against North Korea must be approved by China, North Korea's staunchest communist ally and one of five veto powers on the U.N. Security Council, along with the U.S., Russia, Britain and France.

Credits: Koreatimes