TOKYO, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Assistant Secretary of State and top nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill is scheduled to visit Japan from Wednesday, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said Monday.

    During his two-day visit, Hill is to meet with Japanese Foreign Ministry Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau's newly-appointed director general Akitaka Saiki, who succeeded Kenichiro Sasae in mid January and naturally took the post of Japan's top negotiator at the six-party talks over the Korean Peninsula nuclear issues.

    Hill will talk with Saiki about pushing forward the six-party talks and arrange for U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's Japan tour slated for later this month.