US special representative for North Korea Joseph Yun is set to step down, the US Department of State said on Monday, in a move that comes as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s government says it is willing to hold talks with Washington.
With no ambassador in place in Seoul, Yun’s departure for “personal reasons” after more than 30 years of service leaves another hole in the US diplomatic service.
A North Korean official this week told South Korea that the door was open for dialogue, and Washington said it was willing to talk while maintaining its stance of maximum pressure.
Photo: EPA
The state department also does not have a confirmed assistant secretary for the East Asian and Pacific Affairs department.
Yun, who took up his post in 2016, advocated engagement with North Korea, even when the isolated regime launched sophisticated missiles and conducted underground nuclear tests.
During his tenure, he helped to secure the release of Otto Warmbier, a US student detained by the North, who died shortly after returning to the US. Doctors said he had obtained a “severe neurological injury” of unknown cause while in North Korean custody.
“We are sorry to see him retire, but our diplomatic efforts regarding North Korea will continue based on our maximum pressure campaign to isolate the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] until it agrees to begin credible talks toward a denuclearized Korean Peninsula,” department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.
Yun’s resignation raises further questions over the North Korean policy of US President Donald Trump’s administration.
Victor Cha, Trump’s original choice to be US ambassador to South Korea, was dropped as a candidate after it was reported that he had privately expressed disagreement with the administration’s North Korea policy.
Cha, a former White House official, warned in an essay last month against hitting the Kim regime with a “bloody nose,” or targeted military strike.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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