US diplomat urges improved inter-Korean relations

SEOUL - The top Washington official for East Asia on Wednesday renewed his call on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to improved relations with Seoul.

Kurt Campbell, the US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, arrived in Seoul Tuesday for a two-day visit involving attendance at a forum organized by the Korea Society.

"We are open to diplomacy with North Korea (DPRK), but there is a very clear set of steps that we think are necessary," the diplomat said after meeting with Lim Sung-nam, Seoul's top envoy to stalled talks over ending Pyongyang's nuclear program, and Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jae-shin.

"We agreed the path is open to North Korea toward the resumption of talks and improved relations with the United States and the Republic of Korea(ROK)," Campbell said. "(But) the road to improve these relations runs through Seoul for North Korea (DPRK)."

His remarks come as Seoul steps up calls for dialogue with the DPRK, an attempt to mend cross-border ties that reached their lowest ebb in 2010 following two deadly border conflicts.

The DPRK, meanwhile, recently vowed never to deal with ROK's conservative leader Lee Myung-bak, regularly censured by Pyongyang's state media for his hard-line policy.