Negroponte plans to visit Asia but not North Korea
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte plans to visit Japan, China and South Korea soon but has no intention of visiting North Korea, a U.S. State Department official said on Wednesday. The official, who spoke on condition he not be identified because the trip has yet to be formally announced, denied a Financial Times report that quoted an unnamed official as saying Negroponte planned to add Pyongyang to his itinerary. "Deputy Secretary John Negroponte is planning a trip starting next week to Asia to include stops in Tokyo, Beijing and Seoul," said the State Department official, saying details of the trip would be released shortly. "The Financial Times report speculating that Deputy Secretary Negroponte may add a stop in Pyongyang to his itinerary is not accurate. The deputy secretary does not intend to visit North Korea," the official added. The newspaper said Negroponte's trip -- likely to be his first since becoming the number two U.S. diplomat this month -- aimed to shore up a breakthrough deal with North Korea aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear programs in return for aid. At six-party talks in Beijing last week, North Korea agreed to seal its main nuclear reactor and the source of its weapons-grade plutonium in return for an initial 50,000 tonnes of fuel or economic aid. Those talks include the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.
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