The South Korean government on Monday named Wi Sung-lac as its chief negotiator for the six-party talks on the nuclear issues on the Korean Peninsula.

Wi, 55, special assistant to Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan, will replace Kim Sook to work as the nation's chief nuclear envoy, the ministry said.

Kim was named deputy director of the National Intelligence Service last week.

Wi served as minister for political affairs at the South Korean Embassy in Washington from 2004-2007 after leading the foreign ministry's North American affairs bureau from 2003-2004.

(Xinhua News Agency March 2, 2009)