North Korea withdrew its invitation to a US envoy who was headed to Pyongyang to request the release of imprisoned, ailing US missionary Kenneth Bae, the US Department of State said on Friday.
North Korea canceled talks with Robert King, the US special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, who was expected to visit Pyongyang on Friday and yesterday.
“We are surprised and disappointed by North Korea’s decision,” US Department of State spokeswoman Marie Harf said.
“We remain gravely concerned about Mr. Bae’s health and we continue to urge the DPRK authorities to grant Mr. Bae special amnesty and immediate release on humanitarian grounds,” the spokeswoman said in a written statement, referring to the North by its formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
There was no immediate explanation for the decision from North Korea, which does not have diplomatic relations with Washington.
King’s trip, announced this week as he was visiting US allies Japan and South Korea, was seen as a potential signal of the start of a gradual thaw in relations between Washington and Pyongyang.
The US Department of State had termed the trip a “humanitarian mission” and played down any connection between Bae’s release and diplomacy over the North’s sanctioned nuclear weapons program.
HOPE AND FAITH
Bae’s sister in Washington state issued a statement saying their family was disappointed and worried about Kenneth Bae’s health, but are “not giving up hope for a peaceful and timely resolution.”
“We hold on to faith that DPRK and US diplomats will resume talks soon, ultimately leading to my brother being released,” said Terri Chung, Bae’s sister.
US Representative Rick Larsen, who represents the district where Bae’s family lives, urged the North Koreans to free Bae.
“The North Koreans gain nothing from this course reversal. It is time to let Kenneth come home to his family and get the medical attention he needs,” Larsen, a Democrat, said in a statement.
King secured the release of another Korean-American missionary, Jung Young-su, in 2011 as part of a trip to assess North Korean pleas for food aid.
Relations between Washington and Pyongyang have been frosty since the collapse of a deal early last year, when North Korea broke its promise to end its long-range rocket launches and prevented nuclear inspectors from examining its nuclear stockpile and production.
Nuclear talks involving the US, China, Japan and North and South Korea have been deadlocked for five years, although Pyongyang in 2005 had signed a deal in which it would have frozen its nuclear program in exchange for economic and energy aid. North Korea has conducted three nuclear tests since 2006.
HUMAN RIGHTS SCRUTINY
North Korea’s human rights record has recently come under international scrutiny.
A UN Public Commission of Inquiry in Seoul on Aug. 20 was told by witnesses that public executions and torture are daily occurrences in the North’s prisons. Bae, 45, was sentenced to 15 years hard labor for attempting to overthrow the North Korean state by spreading anti-government propaganda, according to North Korean media. He has diabetes and his health has deteriorated since he was jailed.
North Korean state media said Bae started his plot to “topple” the country’s government in 2006, a date that coincides with his own testimony about his arrival in China.
It accused him of spreading “false propaganda” and of bribing North Korean citizens in a bid to bring down the government.
Bae lived in a Chinese town that borders North Korea and worked for a tour company, while undertaking missionary work inside North Korea.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number