(VOVworld) - US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet senior officials in China later this week, and then stop in Seoul for talks with South Korean leaders, the State Department announced on Monday. During the May 16-17 talks in Beijing, America’s top diplomat "will meet senior leaders of the Chinese government to advance US priorities ahead of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue this summer and the planned visit to the United States of President Xi Jinping this fall," State Department acting spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters.

John Kerry is making his first visit to East Asia as U.S. secretary of state. Photo: AP

In Seoul, Kerry will sit down with South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se to discuss global, regional and bilateral issues as well as Park s upcoming visit to the United States, Harf said. The issue of trade could figure in the talks in both countries, as the United States is seeking to finalize a massive trade pact with 11 Pacific rim countries, although this does not include China or South Korea.
On his way home, Kerry will stop in Seattle on May 19^th to deliver a speech on trade policy, including a 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership deal that Washington hopes to see concluded this year.