The head of South Korea's ruling Saenuri Party will visit the United States later this week for talks with top U.S. officials.
  

Kim Moo-sung, chairman of the Saenuri Party, is set to leave for Washington on Saturday on a nine-day trip that will also take him to New York and Los Angeles, it said.
  

In Washington, Kim is expected to meet with Secretary of State John Kerry, Vice President Joe Biden and other officials, though details have yet to be worked out, the party said.
  

In New York, Kim is scheduled to meet with U.N.Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, a former South Korean foreign minister.
 

It marks the first U.S. trip by Kim and the second overseas trip since taking office last year. Kim traveled to China in October.
  

The planned trip comes weeks before President Park Geun-hye is set to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama.
  

South Korea and the U.S. have said they will pick a new date for a summit, which Park delayed in June over the massive outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome that has killed 36 South Koreans.
  

The public health scare over the virus died down as South Korea reported no additional MERS cases for 16 straight days as of Tuesday. (Yonhap)