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US envoy leaves for China for DPRK talks

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-06-30 23:06

WASHINGTON: US officials are traveling to China to discuss U.N. sanctions slapped on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) for a nuclear test last month.

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The State Department says the delegation headed by Philip Goldberg will leave Tuesday. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton briefed Goldberg before his trip.

A new U.N. resolution seeks to stop DPRK trading of banned weapons by requiring U.N. member states to request inspections of ships suspected of carrying prohibited cargo.

China's cooperation is seen as crucial to to bring Pyongyang back to nuclear disarmament talks.

Goldberg, a former ambassador, is in charge of coordinating implementation of sanctions against DPRK.