(2nd LD) No decision on U.S. special envoy for N. Korea: State Dept.

WASHINGTON/SEOUL, Feb. 12 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. government has not yet made a decision on whether to appoint a special envoy for North Korea, the State Department said Thursday, amid reports that a former U.S. ambassador to South Korea will be named.

"As far as I know, no decisions have been made on whether or not we would have a
special envoy for North Korea," spokesman Robert Wood said in a daily news
briefing.
A diplomatic source, here, however, said that the Obama administration has made a
decision.
"I understand the Obama administration is on the verge of appointing a special
envoy for North Korea," the source said.
Bosworth, a former ambassador to South Korea and onetime head of the Korean
Peninsula Energy Development Organization, had been widely assumed to be a top
pick for the position given his expertise in Korean affairs. He is currently the
dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
KEDO was an international consortium charged with building two light-water
reactors for North Korea in return for the North's freezing of its
plutonium-producing reactor under the 1994 Geneva Agreed Framework.
The consortium was shut down after the U.S. took issue with North Korea's
suspected uranium-based nuclear program that derailed the framework agreement.
Bosworth refused to discuss the report of his appointment with reporters he met
ahead of a reception at the National Press Club here. He was later quoted by
Bloomberg as saying that he was appointed to be the chief U.S. nuclear negotiator
and that the posting will take effect in a few days.
Bosworth dismissed Japanese media report that he delivered a message of the Obama
administration to Pyongyang when visited last week, saying "That's not true. It
was a private visit."
Another source said that Bosworth is a strong candidate, but was still cautious,
adding "You know changes can be made anytime at the last minute."
Wendy Sherman, a former North Korea policy coordinator under the Clinton
administration, reportedly rejected Obama's offer to take up the post of special
envoy for North Korea amid allegations the job is seen as having little chance of
success.
Critics say that almost all options with regards to North Korea's nuclear program
have been exhausted in the years since negotiations began in the early 1990s.
Any appointment of a special envoy to North Korea will likely come after a clear
description of duties are mapped out between a new assistant secretary of state
for Asia and the Pacific and the special envoy, including whether the envoy will
report to the assistant secretary or directly to Clinton.
South Korean officials said it was their understanding that Bosworth will be
tapped to deal with North Korean issues.
But they were cautious in commenting on the widely-expected appointment.
"First of all, the U.S. has not announced it. And we have to see what the exact
status of an envoy, if appointed, will be," a senior foreign ministry official
said on customary condition of anonymity. "It is not clear whether the envoy will
serve as the U.S. chief representative to the six-way talks (on the North Korean
nuclear program) or will handle overall North Korean issues with a separate
nuclear negotiator as an assistant."
He added that Washington is likely to draw a line between the job of assistant
secretary of state and envoy to the nuclear talks.
Outgoing assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill had doubled as
Washington's chief nuclear negotiator. Many said Hill could not concentrate on
his responsibilities for the Asia and Pacific region because of the North Korean
nuclear issue.
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