U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman will visit South Korea next week for discussions on North Korea and the alliance between Seoul and Washington, the State Department announced Friday.

Sherman will be in Seoul on Jan. 28-29 for meetings with senior officials and non-governmental experts to discuss the alliance and North Korea issues, as well as regional and global priorities, the department said in a statement.

It did not provide further specifics.

Seoul is the second leg of Sherman's three-nation trip that will also take her to China and Japan.

While in Beijing on Jan. 27-28, she will hold discussions with senior government officials on a wide range of issues, including the international nuclear negotiations with Iran, known as the P5 plus one talks, the statement said.

After Seoul, Sherman will visit Tokyo on Jan. 29-30 for meetings with Japanese politicians and senior government officials to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues, the statement said.

She is scheduled to return to Washington on Jan. 31, it said. (Yonhap)