A US State Department official met with South Korean foreign ministry officials in Seoul on Monday, apparently for discussions on North Korea and pending alliance issues, a government source said.

Marc Knapper, acting deputy assistant secretary of state for Korea and Japan affairs, was returning to South Korea several months after finishing a stint here.

He is in charge of coordinating a strategy on North Korea and dealing with a broad range of alliance issues, such as splitting the cost of US Forces Korea and maintaining partnerships on sanctions against Pyongyang and Tehran.

He served as acting US ambassador to South Korea for about one and a half years up to July.

"His trip to South Korea this time is meant largely for routine consultations with his counterparts at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," the source said.

The visit will also allow him to conduct introductory meetings, as he took up his post recently, the source added. (Yonhap)