Former head of N. Korean mission to U.N. likely to return: sources

(ATTN: ADDS Kelly's remarks in 5th para)
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 (Yonhap) -- A former deputy head of the North Korean mission
to the United Nations in New York has applied for a visa to come back to his
previous post, apparently to buttress improving relations between the North and
the United States, sources said Monday.
The sources said former Deputy Chief Han Song-ryol will replace the current
deputy, Kim Myong-kil, who will return to Pyongyang.
"I understand that Kim Myong-kil will soon come back home, but I have no idea of
when," a diplomatic source here said Monday.
Han, former deputy chief of the North's U.N. mission, has applied for a visa to
take up the post again, another source said. "I understand that North Korea wants
Han, who served in New York for five years until 2006, to reinforce the New York
channel as he is a higher-ranking official."
The deputy head of the North Korean mission to the U.N. in New York acts as the
North's de facto ambassador to the U.S., while the mission's head deals solely
with affairs related to the global body.
State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said he "would not comment on a visa
application on somebody, whether or not he was going to get one or not get one,"
but added, "After the fact, after he's got one, sure we would acknowledge the
fact of it."
Talk of Han's possible return comes as relations between the sides have begun
improving in recent months after plunging to their lowest level earlier this year
after Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests.
Ri Gun, director general of the North American affairs bureau of North Korea's
Foreign Ministry, flew to New York Friday to attend seminars and meet with U.S.
officials to discuss the resumption of the six-party talks on ending the North's
nuclear ambitions.
Sung Kim, U.S. special envoy for the six-party talks, met with Ri in New York
Friday to "convey our position on denuclearization and the six-party talks," the
State Department said.
After a one-hour meeting at the U.S. mission to the U.N., Ri said without
elaborating, "I met with Sung Kim and discussed issues of mutual interest."
Kim is also to attend seminars in San Diego and New York, giving rise to
speculation that they will meet again on the sidelines to discuss preparations
for a visit to Pyongyang by Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for
North Korea policy, for a breakthrough on the stalled nuclear negotiations.
North Korea has boycotted the six-party talks due to U.N. sanctions for its
nuclear and missile tests, but North Korean leader Kim Jong-il expressed his
intention to come back to the talks earlier this month when he met with Chinese
Premier Wen Jiabao in Pyongyang.
Kim, however, linked the North's participation to the outcome of the anticipated
bilateral talks with the U.S., which has yet to make a concrete decision on
whether to send Bosworth to Pyongyang.
Ri has been invited to participate in the Northeast Asia Cooperative Dialogue
(NEACD) at the University of California, San Diego, set for two days until
Tuesday and also a seminar in New York hosted by the National Committee on
American Foreign Policy and the Korea Society Friday.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last week that the U.S. will not
lift sanctions on North Korea or normalize ties unless Pyongyang takes
irreversible steps toward denuclearization.
However, she added, "Within the framework of the six-party talks, we are prepared
to meet bilaterally with North Korea. But North Korea's return to the negotiating
table is not enough."
hdh@yna.co.kr
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