Kerry to seek assurance of no gap on North Korea policy

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will seek to make sure that there is no disparity between Seoul and Washington on ways of dealing with North Korea, when he travels to Seoul this week, officials said Wednesday. "The secretary's focus is on close coordination on North Korea. He will reaffirm our alliance commitments as well as our resolve to work closely together with the Republic of Korea to promote denuclearization and to maintain deterrence, " a senior U.S. government official told reporters in an in-flight background briefing. He added the secretary expects South Korean officials to provide an update on the state of inter-Korean relations. Kerry's trip to Seoul comes a day after the two Koreas resumed their high-level talks, followed by a deal on reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. "More broadly, it's a chance for the United States and the Republic of Korea to remain closely synchronized in advance of the secretary's conversations the following day in Beijing," the official said. Asked about whether the Obama administration is comfortable with the pace of inter-Korean rapprochement, the official said Washington supports improved ties between the two Koreas, but it hopes that Pyongyang is sincere and cooperative. Kerry left Washington for Seoul earlier in the day on his special plane with his entourage and reporters. His plane briefly landed in Alaska to refuel. The secretary will meet with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, shortly after arriving in Seoul on Thursday afternoon (local time). He will then hold talks with his South Korean counterpart, Yun Byung-se. The top diplomats are expected to discuss bilateral tensions between South Korea and Japan with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to the controversial Yasukuni war shrine last December further souring Seoul-Tokyo relations. They will also try to coordinate their policies toward North Korea's recent charm offensives, including its proposal for the Wednesday high-level talks, while sharing the details of the recent inter-Korean contact. Both Seoul and Washington have been wary of such charm offensives since such rapprochement moves by Pyongyang have usually been followed by military provocations. Experts and officials indicated the possibility of the North's military threats around late February when South Korea and the U.S. are scheduled to launch their annual joint war exercises. Pyongyang has proposed the plan for the joint war drills be scrapped, but the allies said they will go ahead with them since they are only defensive in nature. Following their ministerial talks scheduled for Thursday evening, Yun and Kerry will hold a joint press conference. The next day Kerry will head to Beijing for discussions mainly on North Korea and climate change, according to the official. In his consultations with Chinese leaders, he will put the two issues high on agenda, the official added. The U.S. wants to translate the denuclearization of North Korea from a "noun" to a "verb," he said. The secretary is also scheduled to visit Jakarta and Abu Dhabi before returning to Washington early next week.