By Reuben Staines
Staff Reporter

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young will fly to the United States tomorrow to brief top Washington officials about recent inter-Korean discussions on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, the government said Monday.

Chung hopes to meet with U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley during the six-day visit but his schedule has not yet been fixed, Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hong-jae told reporters.

``Minister Chung will brief U.S. government officials and Congressional leaders on the outcome of his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and the inter-Korean ministerial talks,’’ Kim said.

The unscheduled meeting between the South’s point man on inter-Korean affairs and the communist North’s reclusive leader on June 17 raised hopes for a breakthrough in the nuclear standoff.

During their talks in Pyongyang, Kim told Chung his country could return to six-party talks aimed at resolving the nuclear crisis as early as July if the U.S. treated the communist regime respectfully. The multilateral negotiations have been stalled for about a year.

However, Chung was unable to get a firm date from North Korea during last week’s Cabinet-level talks in Seoul, with Pyongyang only saying it will move to resolve the stalemate when the ``atmosphere’’ is right.

Chung will be the first South Korean unification chief to travel to the U.S. to brief officials on an inter-Korean contact.

Experts said the trip is a sign of Seoul’s desire to play a key mediating role in the protracted nuclear dispute.

``South Korea is now fully committed to playing an active role in resolving the crisis,’’ Kim Sung-han, professor at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, told The Korea Times.

Kim believed Chung’s visit could also be aimed at convincing skeptical U.S. officials of the genuineness of comments made by the North Korean leader during their Pyongyang meeting.

``Washington is still not quite sure whether Kim Jong-il really meant what he said,’’ the international relations specialist said. ``It seems that Chung has decided to go to the U.S. himself to relieve these doubts.’’

Chung, who last visited Washington in August, will return to Seoul on July 3.

Excited by hopes of restarting the six-party talks, South Korea has sought to persuade the U.S. to soften its rhetoric toward the North to draw it back to the bargaining table.

During a meeting on the sidelines of an Iraq donors’ conference in Europe last week, Ban Ki-moon, minister of foreign affairs and trade, urged the U.S. secretary state to avoid provocative statements that might give North Korea an excuse to delay its return to the six-party talks further. Rice said she would bear Seoul’s request in mind.

Rice is also expected to visit Seoul next month as part of a tour of Northeast Asian nations involved in the six-party talks. U.S. and South Korean government sources said the visit is in the works but no date has been set.

rjs@koreatimes.co.kr