N. Korea rejects U.N. envoy: source

NEW YORK, Feb. 21 (Yonhap) -- A plan to send a United Nations special envoy to
North Korea next month has been called off due to the isolated country's
unwillingness to hold dialogue at this time, a source at the global body said
Saturday.

A group of U.N. delegates led by Lynn Pascoe, U.N. Under-Secretary-General for
Political Affairs, had planned to visit Pyongyang in early March but North Korea
has rejected the offer, the source told Yonhap News Agency.
The appointment of the high-profile figure as special envoy to North Korea has
been viewed as a sign that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is moving to take a
greater role in dealing with Pyongyang's reported plans to test-fire a ballistic
missile.
Intelligence officials said recently that North Korea is assembling its
long-range Taepodong-2 missile, which is supposedly capable of reaching the
western United States.
The move has worsened already frayed ties between the two Koreas.
The U.N. official said that he does not know why Pyongyang refused to accept the
envoy but added that the missile test-firing might be one of the reasons.
Another source denied that the North rejected the envoy, saying the U.N. and
Pyongyang are still having talks to decide the best time to dispatch the
delegates.
This source added that the U.N. is reluctant to directly address the North Korean
nuclear issue because the six-nation talks -- involving the two Koreas, the U.S.,
China, Japan and Russia -- are still in progress.
Pascoe will meanwhile manage other pertinent political and diplomatic issues
involving Pyongyang, as well as humanitarian aid, he said.
Secretary-General Ban said in January he would send a high ranking official to
the North to report on the situation there.
Former Secretary-General Kofi Anan had named Morris Strong as his North Korean
envoy, but the organization yet to send a representative to the isolated country
since Strong stepped down from the post due to a lobbyist scandal in 2005.
brk@yna.co.kr
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