SEOUL - South Korea's new chief nuclear negotiator will visit Japan Thursday for talks with his Japanese counterpart on dismantling the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s nuclear program, local media reported Tuesday.

Lim Sung-nam, who replaced Wi Sung-lac as the top envoy to the six-party nuclear talks, is scheduled to meet with Japan's nuclear negotiator Shinsuke Sugiyama to coordinate a DPRK policy, according to Seoul's semi-official Yonhap News Agency.

Lim's visit comes ahead of the planned visit to Seoul by Japan' s new Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.

The trip also comes after Seoul and Pyongyang held two rounds of rare talks over ending Pyongyang's nuclear program.

Pyongyang and Washington are also expected to hold another round of separate denuclearization talks soon, raising hopes the momentum is building to restart the stalled talks that also involve China and Russia.

Pyongyang declared the six-party aid-for-denuclearization talks, last held in December 2008, "dead" in 2009 but recently expressed its wish to return to the negotiating table.