KEY POINTS:
Foreign Minister Winston Peters was to dine with United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Seoul overnight and expected an update on the denuclearisation of North Korea.
A spokesman for Mr Peters said the pair would be seated next to each other for the banquet to celebrate
yesterday's inauguration of South Korea's President, Lee Myung-bak.
"Obviously when there is a chance to talk to Condoleezza Rice, one of our prime interests will be getting an update from her on how she sees the North Korean situation developing," the spokesman said.
Mr Peters travelled to the US to brief Dr Rice on his visit to North Korea last year and she rang him in 2006 after news of nuclear testing in the secretive country.
Last night's dinner was likely to be the only chance for the pair to catch up as Mr Peters is leaving today.
Before departing, he will also meet South Korea's new Foreign Minister, Yu Myung-hwan, and is expected to push New Zealand's case for a free trade agreement.
New Zealand is due to start preliminary discussions with South Korea about a potential free trade deal in April, after the recent completion of a joint study on the potential an agreement held for both countries.
The spokesman said Mr Peters would also offer New Zealand's help on pushing the North Korea nuclear issue forward.
"We will just be highlighting the fact that we are keen to do what we can to assist the six-party talks process, and I'm sure the minister-designate will be aware we have been to North Korea.
"We've never tried to pretend we are anything but a peripheral player in this situation but we are ready and willing to be effectively engaged as the main players such as South Korea and the United States feel we can usefully be."
The spokesman said Dr Rice's decision to attend the inauguration was not why Mr Peters added it on to his trip to South Africa and Zambia.
"We are here because we've got our own strong relationship with South Korea and want to register with the new Administration."
The new President, Mr Lee, has promised a harder line with North Korea over its nuclear programmes and South Korea is the first country Dr Rice is visiting as part of a diplomatic mission to get progress with the talks back on track.
She will also visit fellow Party of Six countries Japan and China.
The six-party talks began in 2003 and include both North and South Korea, the United States and Russia.
New Zealand was included on the periphery as a "five-plus-five" nation, which includes Canada and Indonesia.
It is considered valuable because of its anti-nuclear stance and relatively warm relationship with North Korea.
Before leaving the United States, Dr Rice spoke of the need for North Korea to fully disclose its nuclear weapons programmes, after it failed to do so by the date set in Party of Six talks.
Under the accord South Korea was to have disabled its main plutonium-producing plants and disclosed its full programme by December 31.