Whatever gloss is put on the decision by Bill Clinton to abandon his plan to visit Pyongyang during the last days of his presidency, the likely effect will be to hinder the thawing of relations between North and South Korea.
The President's visit - always an ambitious hope - would undoubtedly have represented a major boost to Seoul's 'sunshine' policy of seeking reconciliation with the North, and a triumph in particular for South Korean President and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Kim Dae-jung.
The US President's reason for ruling out the visit - that he did not have enough time to make the visit a success - clearly relates to a lack of concrete progress in behind-the-scenes talks aimed at securing an agreement from the North on ending its production and export of missiles. Such difficulties, which meant that Mr Clinton would have been likely to come away from the visit empty-handed, make his decision understandable; and yet, following the high hopes for a breakthrough after US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's visit to the North Korean capital in October, the loss of momentum in improving US-North Korean relations will now be hard to regain.
In announcing his decision, Mr Clinton talked of looking to his successor, George W. Bush, to bring about further progress on constructive engagement between the US and the world's most isolated communist state. But such progress is likely to be hampered by several factors.
While it is unlikely that the new Bush administration will dramatically alter US policy on North Korea, it is likely to review carefully that policy, and a tougher approach, one that demands more reciprocity from North Korea, may well be the result.
Meanwhile it will be largely up to Mr Kim to attempt to maintain the process of reconciliation. Yesterday's announcement of a joint survey of the North's energy needs is a positive move, and is likely to lead to the South supplying desperately needed electricity to the North.
