Christopher Hill (16 Feb 2007)

A U.S. State Department spokesman says North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator Kim Kye Kwan and his U.S. counterpart, Christopher Hill, are expected to meet in New York later this week.

Sean McCormack was responding to media reports that Vice Foreign Minister Kim will visit San Francisco on Thursday for a lecture at Stanford and then will head to New York for a meeting with Assistant Secretary of State Hill.

He said the two sides were still working through the logistics and a date. The planned trip was first reported Saturday by South Korean media.

Earlier this month, North Korea agreed to close its main nuclear facility in Yongbyong and allow atomic energy inspectors in the country within 60 days in exchange for energy aid.

North Korea expelled IAEA weapons inspectors in late December, 2002, and officially withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in January 2003.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.