U.S. seen naming Bosworth as North Korea nuclear envoy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Stephen Bosworth, a former U.S. ambassador to South Korea, is expected to be named as the U.S. envoy to six-party talks on curbing North Korea's nuclear ambitions, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The sources spoke on condition they not be identified, noting that the selection of the envoy was a sensitive matter ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and China next week.

Bosworth, dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, declined comment on whether he would be tapped to lead the U.S. delegation to the six-party talks, which also include the two Koreas, China, Japan and Russia.

Under those talks, North Korea agreed in 2005 to abandon all its nuclear programs.

However, Pyongyang tested a nuclear device in 2006, has been slow to carry out agreements on disabling its plutonium program and has refused to commit to a verification regime, leaving the multilateral process stalled.

A State Department spokesman declined comment on whether Bosworth would be chosen as U.S. envoy to the talks.