ID :
40341
Tue, 01/13/2009 - 12:09
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/40341
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U.S. not inviting N. Korean delegation to Obama`s inauguration: State Dept.
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- The United States has no plans to invite North
Korean delegates to the inauguration of incoming President Barack Obama next
week, a State Department official said Monday.
"We don't have any diplomatic relationship with North Korea, and therefore, we
don't have any plan to invite any North Korean official to the inauguration," the
official said, asking anonymity.
The official was denying reports that a North Korean official will visit
Washington or New York on the occasion of Obama's inauguration to discuss the
six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions and other issues of
bilateral concern.
The U.S. government does not invite foreign delegations to presidential
inaugurations. Ambassadors stationed in Washington represent their governments at
the ceremony, and the official said the U.S. government does not want to break
that tradition.
Reports indicate North Koran leader Kim Jong-il anticipates the inauguration of
the new Democratic president, much as he did that of Democratic President Bill
Clinton. In his waning weeks in office in 2000, Clinton sent his secretary of
state, Madeleine Albright, to Pyonyang.
Jo Myong-rok, then chief North Korean military officer, made a reciprocal visit
to Washington and signed an agreement paving the way for Clinton to visit North
Korea to discuss nuclear and long-range missile programs.
The trip was canceled due to a time crunch, and Clinton recently said he
regretted that.
In its New Year's message last week, North Korea skipped its usual criticism of
the U.S. and reiterated its pledge for denuclearization under the six-party
talks, generating speculation that the North has hopes for better treatment from
Obama than Bush, who called the reclusive regime part of an "axis of evil."
In an apparent show of goodwill, Ri Gun, director general of the North American
affairs bureau of North Korea's Foreign Ministry, met with Frank Jannuzi, a key
foreign policy adviser to Obama, in New York in early November just days after
the election.
Reports have said Obama will send a high-level envoy to Pyongyang soon after his
inauguration for discussions on the stalled multilateral nuclear talks.
Obama has said he will meet with North Korean leader Kim without any
preconditions, and has denounced Bush for stiff-arming the regime for the first
six years of his tenure, allowing Pyongyang to produce eight nuclear warheads.
Bush began actively engaging the North only after it detonated its first nuclear
device in October 2006.
The six-party talks hit another snag recently as North Korea refused to allow
inspectors to take verification samples from its main reactor.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- The United States has no plans to invite North
Korean delegates to the inauguration of incoming President Barack Obama next
week, a State Department official said Monday.
"We don't have any diplomatic relationship with North Korea, and therefore, we
don't have any plan to invite any North Korean official to the inauguration," the
official said, asking anonymity.
The official was denying reports that a North Korean official will visit
Washington or New York on the occasion of Obama's inauguration to discuss the
six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions and other issues of
bilateral concern.
The U.S. government does not invite foreign delegations to presidential
inaugurations. Ambassadors stationed in Washington represent their governments at
the ceremony, and the official said the U.S. government does not want to break
that tradition.
Reports indicate North Koran leader Kim Jong-il anticipates the inauguration of
the new Democratic president, much as he did that of Democratic President Bill
Clinton. In his waning weeks in office in 2000, Clinton sent his secretary of
state, Madeleine Albright, to Pyonyang.
Jo Myong-rok, then chief North Korean military officer, made a reciprocal visit
to Washington and signed an agreement paving the way for Clinton to visit North
Korea to discuss nuclear and long-range missile programs.
The trip was canceled due to a time crunch, and Clinton recently said he
regretted that.
In its New Year's message last week, North Korea skipped its usual criticism of
the U.S. and reiterated its pledge for denuclearization under the six-party
talks, generating speculation that the North has hopes for better treatment from
Obama than Bush, who called the reclusive regime part of an "axis of evil."
In an apparent show of goodwill, Ri Gun, director general of the North American
affairs bureau of North Korea's Foreign Ministry, met with Frank Jannuzi, a key
foreign policy adviser to Obama, in New York in early November just days after
the election.
Reports have said Obama will send a high-level envoy to Pyongyang soon after his
inauguration for discussions on the stalled multilateral nuclear talks.
Obama has said he will meet with North Korean leader Kim without any
preconditions, and has denounced Bush for stiff-arming the regime for the first
six years of his tenure, allowing Pyongyang to produce eight nuclear warheads.
Bush began actively engaging the North only after it detonated its first nuclear
device in October 2006.
The six-party talks hit another snag recently as North Korea refused to allow
inspectors to take verification samples from its main reactor.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
