MOSCOW, April 10 (RIA Novosti) - South Korea's foreign ministry briefly visited Moscow Monday to secure support for further talks on North Korea's nuclear program and his candidacy as possible future UN head.
Following talks with his Russian counterpart, Ban Ki-moon said that Seoul appreciated Russia's role in the North Korea talks, and that he hoped Russia's long-standing friendly ties with the North would allow Russia to convince it of the need to resume the talks without any preliminary conditions.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reaffirmed Russia's commitment to continue efforts to resolve the problem, and said his country would maintain close contacts with North Korea and the other parties involved, which include the United States, China, and Japan.
The latest round of talks on the communist country's controversial nuclear program were held in September 2005 but have not resumed since then over ongoing differences between North Korea and the U.S.
In September, North Korea agreed to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for aid and security guarantees, but later refused to return to the negotiating table until Washington lifted financial sanctions imposed on Pyongyang for its alleged involvement in counterfeiting and other illegal activities.
Ban Ki-moon also said he had asked Lavrov to support his candidacy for the post of UN Secretary General.
Lavrov hailed the UN's Asian diplomats, who have the right to nominate a candidate to replace Kofi Annan. Annan's second term in office expires December 31, 2006.
Ki-moon said talks on the candidate, who must be approved by the General Assembly, would continue later.
On bilateral issues, Ki-moon proposed that an inter-governmental commission should meet this year to advance the action plan signed on the sidelines of the summit of Asia-Pacific economies in Busan, South Korea, in November 2005. He also urged simpler visa regulations for Korean businessmen and spoke in favor of signing an agreement on cooperation in space exploration.
Russia's Khrunichev Space Center is already building a space launch vehicle for South Korea, KSLV-1, which is scheduled for launch in October 2007. A Korean-made satellite will be launched by a Russian carrier rocket this year. The two countries are also discussing the possibility of a joint manned space flight program, and a South Korea astronaut is slated to blast off for the International Space Station in March-April 2008.
Ki-moon also asked for Russian assistance in addressing problems facing ethnic Koreans living in the former Soviet republics in Central Asia, mainly in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
Ethnic Koreans were forcibly resettled in Central Asia when the Bolshevik government moved in 1937 to end emigration to its Far Eastern territories from neighboring Korea, then a Japanese colony, and China, whose northeastern part was also under Japanese control.
