North Korea blames war games for cancellation of US envoy’s visit
Pyongyang says military exercises between Washington and Seoul are behind the withdrawal of an invitation to discuss the fate of a US citizen imprisoned in North Korea
North Korean has withdrawn its invitation to a US envoy to visit the country to discuss the case of a detained American because Washington perpetrated a “grave provocation” by allegedly mobilising nuclear-capable bombers during recent military drills the US conducted with Seoul.
Analysts said the moves signal possible informal negotiations between the two countries over Kenneth Bae were not going smoothly, with Pyongyang in all likelihood seeking concessions from Washington in return for releasing the American.
Robert King, the US special envoy for North Korean human rights, had been scheduled to travel to Pyongyang on Friday for talks on Bae, a 45-year-old tour operator and Christian missionary who has been detained since November for committing “hostile acts”. He was sentenced in April to 15 years hard labour.
An unidentified North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said in remarks carried by state media late on Saturday that his country intended to allow King’s visit even though the US and South Korea were conducting annual military drills.
But he said the US “beclouded the hard-won atmosphere of humanitarian dialogue in a moment” by allegedly flyingB-52H strategic bombers in the sky above the peninsula during the exercises. He called it “the most blatant nuclear blackmail against us”.
The North Korean statement “may be the result of the fact that compromises are not being struck smoothly in US-North Korea negotiations” over what North Korea wants for releasing Bae, said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at South Korea’s Kyungnam University, adding that conditions could include things such as the shipment of aid or the start of formal talks on improving ties.
