(MENAFN- QNA) South Korea's foreign minister Yun Byung-se is seeking to meet with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in New York this week with North Korea's nuclear weapons program likely to be on the agenda, government sources said Monday.
South Korea's Foreign Minister and his Iranian counterpart are seeking to hold talks on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, possibly on Friday, according to the sources.
Yun is on a trip to Canada and the United States, accompanying South Korean President Park Geun-hye. The top diplomat is scheduled to arrive in New York late Monday to stay until Sunday to attend the annual session of the U.N. General Assembly, according to South Korea's (Yonhap) News Agency.
It would mark the first meeting between the top diplomats of South Korea and Iran since 2008.
The move comes as the U.S. and five other world powers have been in negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program in return for an easing of tough economic sanctions.
Iran has maintained friendly relations with North Korea, which defies the international community's calls to give up its nuclear weapons development and abandon its threats of another nuclear test.
North Korea's top diplomat Ri Su-yong met Minister Zarif and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during his recent visit to the Middle Eastern country.
In October 2010, South Korea agreed with Iran to set up Korean won-based transaction settlement arrangements for bilateral trade, mainly out of the necessity for oil imports.
South Korea said the move does not go against U.S.-led sanctions to punish Iran for its nuclear ambitions. Iran is banned from dealing with dollar-based financial transactions under the sanctions.
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