Seoul, Apr 14 (IANS): South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator will visit Sweden and Germany next week to discuss issues related to the Korean Peninsula and North Korea's nuclear weapons programme, the foreign ministry said on Friday.

Kim Gunn, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, will visit Stockholm on Monday and meet with Swedish State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Jan Knutsson, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Kim plans to request Sweden's constructive role in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue, and discuss ways to strengthen cooperation between Seoul and Stockholm. Sweden holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of this year.

The envoy will also meet with the chiefs of key research institutes in Sweden, including the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, to exchange views on the South Korean government's policy for North Korea and recent developments in the North.

From Tuesday, Kim will visit Berlin for two days and meet with Minister of State Tobias Lindner to discuss ways the two countries can work together to counter North Korea's nuclear threat.