South Korea's chief nuclear envoy will visit the United States next week for talks with his U.S. counterpart and other officials, an official said Friday, amid renewed momentum to curb North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

Hwang Joon-kook, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, will fly to New York Sunday for meetings with delegates of U.N. Security Council member states.

From New York, the chief envoy to the stalled six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear program will travel to Washington, where he is due to meet his U.S. counterpart, Ambassador Sung Kim, on Wednesday.  

Efforts to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table have gained momentum since President Park Geun-hye and her Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, issued a joint call last week for the swift resumption of "meaningful" six-way talks. The two leaders also warned North Korea against further provocations that could raise tensions in the region.

Before its suspension in late 2008, the forum aimed to dismantle North Korea's nuclear program in exchange for economic and political concessions. The other members are Russia and Japan.

Speaking during a parliamentary audit of the Foreign Ministry Thursday, Hwang dismissed views that Washington has been reluctant about restarting negotiations.

"The U.S., like us, is making various efforts for the resumption of the six-party talks ... and has said on numerous occasions that it is willing to hold talks with the North," he said. "However, North Korea is currently refusing any sort of dialogue on the nuclear issue, not only with the U.S., but also China, which was once considered its closest partner."

Earlier this week, Xiao Qian, China's deputy envoy to the forum, visited South Korea for talks with his counterpart, Kim Gunn.

North Korea's nuclear program is expected to be high on the regional agenda in the coming weeks. Xi is scheduled to hold a summit with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington later this month, while Park and Obama are also slated for summit talks in the U.S. capital in October.

Separately, South Korea is pushing for trilateral foreign ministerial talks with the U.S. and Japan on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly later this month, and a three-way meeting among their chief nuclear envoys, the official said. (Yonhap)