S. Korean FM to travel to Russia for bilateral talks

South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan will travel to Russia later this week for bilateral talks on North Korea and other issues concerning the two nations, his ministry here said Tuesday. During his four-day trip that starts Saturday, Kim will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow and discuss North Korea''s nuclear weapons programs among other topics, the ministry said, amid signs of a possible resumption of the stalled six-party denuclearization talks. Russia is a member of the six-party negotiations, which also involve the two Koreas, China, Japan and the United States. The meeting on Monday will be "a chance to discuss various bilateral, regional and global issues, but among them, there will be discussions of ways to secure Russia''s constructive role in the North Korean nuclear issue," ministry spokesman Cho Byung-jae told reporters during a press briefing. Kim''s trip to Russia, his first since taking office last October, comes after a series of rare meetings last month between senior Pyongyang officials and their counterparts in Seoul and Washington. The consecutive meetings have raised hopes for a resumption of the six-party talks that were last held in December 2008. The South Korean minister also plans to meet with other Russian government officials, lawmakers and experts on the Korean Peninsula and international affairs, Cho said.