U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will visit South Korea next month for talks on rising inflation and possible new sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear program, sources told Friday. folder. Yellen will meet senior South Korean officials as part of a trip to Asia to attend a meeting of finance officials from the Group of 20 major economies, the sources said.

A Treasury spokesman declined to comment. Details are yet to be finalized, but Yellen may meet with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho to discuss North Korea, as intelligence officials on both sides of the Pacific fear that it is preparing to carry out its first nuclear test in five years. years.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered a defense boost as he wrapped up a meeting with senior military officials, state media said on Friday, leading to speculation in South Korea that which Pyongyang could possibly add tactical nuclear weapons to its arsenal. Park told a news conference last week after meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the two allies “must push for a new UN Security Council resolution to deal with the provocation of North Korea” and that Pyongyang “will be met with a and a firm response from the alliance and the international community” if they were to proceed with the test.

North Korea’s isolation from the global financial system has also made it more resilient to sanctions imposed by the United States and other countries. Discussions of economic conditions are also expected to be on the agenda of Yellen’s trip as Washington and Seoul struggle to reduce inflation rates that have angered consumers.

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