Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Thursday...North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun will visit Australia sometime in July.

Downer is currently on a three-day visit to Seoul. He said...his government is looking forward to a visit to Australia by the North Korean foreign minister Paek Nam-sun, following my visit to Pyongyang last November.

Inter-Korean rapprochement gained momentum in the months after the historic summit between leaders of the two Koreas in Pyongyang last June. But it came to a standstill after U.S. President George W. Bush took office in January and announced a comprehensive review of North Korean policy.

But Downer said he expected the Washington's policy of engagement with Pyongyang to continue.

The Australian foreign minister said... it is his expectation that the review will lead to a continuation of an American policy of engagement with North Korea," the Australian Foreign Minister said.

He also emphasised Australia's desire to see a second inter-Korean summit.

North Korea's Kim Jong-il has promised to visit Seoul in return for South Korean President Kim Dae-jung's trip to Pyongyang, but no date has been set.