SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan was to leave for the United States later Wednesday for talks with the US Secretary of State and the UN chief on responses to North Korea's nuclear test.

Yu will travel first to New York, where he will meet UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, officials in Seoul said.

Turkey currently holds the rotating chair of the UN Security Council, which is considering a resolution to punish the North for its May 25 test.

Yu will stay in New York for two days before heading to Washington for talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

He will also meet Defence Secretary Robert Gates and National Security Adviser James Jones to discuss the agenda for the June 16 US-South Korea summit in Washington.

The minister is due to return to Seoul on Sunday.