Senior U.S. diplomat to visit S Korea to talk on DPRK issue

SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. deputy secretary of state James Steinberg is expected to pay a visit to Seoul later this month to talk with South Korean officials on nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency said on Wednesday.

Steinberg's Seoul stop will be part of his Asia trip to discuss with regional partners ways to deal with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s nuclear ambitions, Yonhap quoted informed sources as saying.

But the sources said the date and other details have yet to be fixed.

The United States recently agreed to have bilateral talks with the DPRK "within the six-party context."

Washington said on Friday that it is "prepared to enter into a bilateral discussion" with Pyongyang, but only in the context of the six-party talks process, and it's designed to convince Pyongyang to come back to the six-way forum and to take affirmative steps towards denuclearization.