South Korean National Security Council Meets

Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap

Seoul, 10 July: President Roh Moo-hyun will chair a National Security Council (NSC) meeting within the week to discuss policy steps for the upcoming six-party talks, the government said Sunday [10 July].

It is the fourth time for Roh to preside over the meeting since taking power in 2003.

The gathering of the country’s top security policymakers comes as North Korea said over the weekend that it would return to the talks the nation has boycotted since June 2004.

The discussions between the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia are scheduled to take place around 27 July in Beijing.

Officials in Seoul welcomed Pyongyang’s decision and stepped up efforts to prepare for the upcoming multilateral negotiations.

NSC Deputy Head Lee Jong-suk hosted a working-level meeting of the council on Sunday, attended by several security officials including Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon, Seoul’s chief delegate to the six-party talks.