Washington’s recent bid to persuade North Korea to return to nuclear disarmament negotiations included a personal letter to leader Kim Jong-il written by US President Barack Obama, a senior US official said.
Envoy Stephen Bosworth took the letter to Pyongyang last week, handing it over to North Korean officials during the Obama administration’s first bilateral talks since the US president took office, the official said in Washington.
The official, who spoke on Tuesday on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the diplomacy, would not describe the contents of the letter but said they fit with Bosworth’s general message.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“The North Koreans have a choice: Continued and further isolation or benefits for returning to the six-party talks and dismantling their nuclear weapons program,” the official said, adding it was not known if Kim had responded.
Bosworth did not meet Kim during his three-day trip. But after leaving Pyongyang, he said he conveyed Obama’s message that the US was ready to work with its allies to offer North Korea “a different future” if Pyongyang chooses to rejoin the disarmament talks and take irreversible steps toward dismantling its atomic program.
The North did not make a firm commitment on when it would rejoin the negotiations.
Pyongyang told Bosworth that UN sanctions imposed on it for its nuclear defiance must be lifted, Yonhap reported on Wednesday.
In other developments, Pyongyang plans to temporarily ban foreigners from entering the country for several weeks, beginning on Sunday, a move that could herald a visit by Kim to China, a South Korean newspaper reported yesterday.
Citing North Korean sources in China, Chosun Ilbo said the ban would last from Sunday until early February. It was unclear from the report if all foreign travelers would be barred, or only those who cross the Chinese border by land.
The Munhwa Ilbo quoted a Seoul intelligence source as saying Pyongyang’s embassy in Beijing has stopped issuing visas for foreigners.
Chosun said some experts believe the North is taking extra security measures before a cross-border visit by Kim.
Meanwhile, Kim reportedly ordered a crackdown on untidy and foreign hairstyles, a South Korean welfare group said yesterday.
Media in the North said last month that men should keep their hair short and women should have it tied up.
“To keep your hair tidy and simple ... is a very important matter for setting the ethos of a sound lifestyle in the country,” the Rodong Sinmun said at the time.
Seoul-based Good Friends, in its latest newsletter, said the order came from Kim himself and was being enforced by the Central Youth Union Committee.
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