U.S. unlikely to accept N. Korean envoy to Obama's inauguration

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korean officials said Monday that North Korea is
unlikely to send a high-profile envoy to the swearing-in ceremony of
President-elect Barack Obama in Washington later this month.

There have been persistent rumors that North Korea may dispatch Vice Foreign
Minister Kim Kye-gwan, who doubles as Pyongyang's top nuclear envoy, to the
ceremony in a show of goodwill to the incoming president.
"Even if North Korea wants to send an envoy, the U.S. is unlikely to break from
its long-held practice by officially accepting a foreign guest," a foreign
ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
The U.S. government does not officially invite foreign dignitaries to a
presidential inauguration ceremony, tickets for which are provided through
members of Congress, he added.
South Korean daily JoongAng Ilbo reported Monday in a front page article that the
North's envoy had expressed his desire to attend the inaugural ceremony.
"North Korea delivered its intention last month to the Korea Society via its
diplomatic mission to the United Nations to send Vice Foreign Minister Kim
Kye-gwan to the inauguration ceremony," the newspaper quoted an unnamed
government source as saying. "(The message) was conveyed to the Obama side."
Kim Myong-gil, deputy chief of the North Korean mission in New York, did not
return Yonhap News Agency's repeated calls to confirm.
The South Korean foreign ministry neither confirmed nor denied the report.
"We are not in a position to confirm it," ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said.
"If the report is true, it is a matter between North Korea and the U.S."
lcd@yna.co.kr
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