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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| U.S. envoy on N. Korean rights not to attend 6-way talks |
| 2010-01-09 |
| WASHINGTON, Jan. 8 (Yonhap) -- The new U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights will not attend future rounds of the six-party talks on the North's denuclearization, the State Department said Friday, in an apparent continuation of Bush administration policy to avoid jeopardizing the fragile multilateral forum. "Obviously, he collaborates very closely with Ambassador Steve Bosworth and Ambassador Sung Kim," Philip Crowley, assistant secretary of state for public affairs, said. "They have very complementary roles. They are in the region on a regular basis consulting with our partners. But his role is different than the six-party process." King will visit South Korea for four days beginning Monday on his first fact-finding mission involving conditions inside the North since taking office late last year. He will then fly to Tokyo Friday to discuss the kidnapping of Japanese citizens by North Korean agents decades ago. During the later Bush years, Republican senators pushed Christopher Hill, then-U.S. point man on North Korea, to arrange for Jay Lefkowitz, King's predecessor, to attend the six-party talks. But the administration avoided addressing rights issues so as not to undermine U.S. efforts to denuclearize the North through the on-and-off talks that began in 2003. Of late the talks, hosted by China, have faltered due to North Korea's refusal to participate in the wake of United Nations sanctions for its nuclear and missile tests. Stepping down after a four-year tenure last January, Lefkowitz wrote a final report to urge President Obama to emphasize human rights in the six-party talks and link any aid to Pyongyang with human rights improvements. |
| Posted by:Steve White |