In Moscow, a government official says Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov plans to visit both South and North Korea early next month.

Quoting the official, Russia's Itar-Tass News Agency said Monday that Lavrov will attend a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Jakarta from June 29th to July 2nd and then fly to Seoul and Pyongyang for respective one-day visits.

The official quoted Lavrov as saying that the aim of his visits is to discuss relations between the two Koreas as well as helping to resolve the drawn-out impasse over Pyongyang's nuclear program.