HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to diplomatic efforts to diffuse the North Korean nuclear standoff. A South Korean presidential envoy is expected to arrive in Washington Tuesday for meetings with top U.S. officials. As Rebecca MacKinnon explains from Seoul, South Korea is trying to broker a compromise between Washington and Pyongyang.</s>REBECCA MACKINNON, CNN INT'L CORRESPONDENT: South Korea continues in its efforts to find some kind of diplomatic solution to the current crisis over North Korea's nuclear weapons program. The South Korean envoy is currently in Moscow and will be holding talks in the coming hours, with his counterparts there, hoping that Russia can help bring some pressure to bear on North Korea to stop its nuclear weapons program. Authorities here believe that Russia has an important role to play as it has both diplomatic and trade ties now with North Korea. Meanwhile, over the weekend, South Korean officials in the new administration of the incoming president, Roh Moo-hyun, have been working over time trying to put together the outlines of a compromise deal, which authorities here have been saying to the local media is likely to be presented in meetings over the coming week. There will be a three-way meeting, at the beginning of the week, in Washington between officials from South Korea, Japan and the United States hoping to coordinate policy toward North Korea at that time. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly will be coming out here to South Korea later in the week to confer directly with current President Kim Dae-Jung and incoming President-elect Roh Moo-hyun. The Roh administration, his new team, are very much focused on putting South Korea in the driver's seat to resolve this crisis and hope that a solution can be found before Roh takes office in late February. Rebecca MacKinnon, CNN, Seoul.
South Korean Envoy Expected to Arrive in Washington Tuesday