(dpa) - South Korea's new Foreign Minister Yu Myung Hwan will travel to China on Thursday, with talks on the conflict over North Korea's nuclear weapons programme on the agenda.
It will be Yu's first official overseas visit since he took office in late February. He is scheduled to visit the US from March 25 to 29 and Japan from April 4 to 6.
During his three-day visit in Beijing, he will meet with senior Chinese officials to also discuss the planned meeting between South Korean President Lee Myung Bak and his counterpart Hu Jintao, Yu told reporters on Wednesday.
The date for the summit has, however, not been fixed yet, he was quoted as saying by the national Yonhap news agency.
Referring to the recent protests in Tibet, Yu said he plans to reiterate Seoul's keen attention to the recent developments there and hopes that there will be no more innocent casualties. But he said he would not go into detail on the matter during his China visit.
Earlier, the foreign ministry in Seoul said that Yu would "have wide-ranging consultations on ways of promoting Seoul-Beijing relations after the launch of the new (South Korean) government, the North Korean nuclear issue, regional situations, cooperation on the international stage, and other major concerns of interest."
Yu is slated to meet with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.