Rice heads to Seoul for talks on NKorea

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SEOUL, Jun 28 (AFP): US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was set to arrive in Seoul Saturday for talks on North Korea, a day after the communist state demolished an atomic reactor tower in a show of its commitment to disarm.

Rice was scheduled to meet with South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan to discuss verification of the North's report on its nuclear activities, which was handed over Thursday, and the resumption of disarmament talks.

They were also expected to discuss bilateral issues such as the controversial resumption of US beef imports that have sparked mass protests across South Korea, Yonhap news agency said.

The agenda was likely to include possible US-South Korea talks on the sidelines of the Group of Eight industrialised countries summit due in early July in Japan, it added.

Rice was to meet with President Lee Myung-Bak later Saturday before flying to China early Sunday.

Her visit comes a day after the North blew up the cooling tower of its atomic reactor in what was described as a "good step" by the White House.