US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due to meet South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon in Washington on August 23, State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack announced Wednesday.

Rice and Ban are expected to discuss a number of issues regarding the six-party talks, McCormack said, but he declined to give more details about the upcoming talks.

It is generally believed that the talks between Rice and Ban will make preparations for the resumption of the fourth-round six-party nuclear talks.

The first stage of the fourth-round talks ended on August 7 after 13-day discussions in Beijing, China.

The six parties, China, the US, Russia, Japan, South and North Korea, agreed to resume the talks in the last week of August.

The concerning parties have different views over Pyongyang's demand for the right of peaceful utilization of nuclear power.

Washington insists that Pyongyang must abandon all nuclear programs. But Pyongyang says it has the right to maintain and develop nuclear facilities for peaceful purposes.

(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2005)