(LEAD) N. Korea confirms Obama sent letter to Kim Jong-il

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with details)
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Yonhap) -- North Korea confirmed Friday that its leader Kim
Jong-il has received U.S. President Barack Obama's personal letter apparently
reaffirming Washington's willingness to provide various political and economic
incentives, including normalization of diplomatic ties, in exchange for
Pyongyang's "irreversible denuclearization."

The letter was delivered by Obama's special envoy, Stephen Bosworth, to the
North's First Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok-ju during their meeting in Pyongyang
last week, according to the (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
"Leader Kim Jong-il received a personal letter from Barack Obama, president of
the United States of America," the KCNA said in its brief English-language
report, without revealing its contents.
The U.S. State Department said earlier this week that Bosworth delivered Obama's
letter to the North Korean leader only after media carried conflicting reports on
whether the envoy carried any written message from Obama to Kim. In his press
briefing in Seoul hours after returning from his three-day trip to the North last
Thursday, Bosworth avoided a direct answer.
"I am the message," he said, when asked whether he delivered such a presidential
letter to the North.
It is unusual for a U.S. president to send a personal letter to the North Korean
leader this early in his term. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush sent letters to
Kim following years of diplomacy to counter the communist regime's nuclear
ambitions.
The contents of Obama's letter remain a secret, although North Korea and the U.S.
announced that their latest high-level dialogue produced "common understanding"
on the need to resume the six-nation nuclear talks. No date has been set yet, and
the two sides are widely expected to hold additional meetings.
South Korean government officials have been guarded about the letter, only saying
it includes the U.S. administration's basic position on the nuclear crisis.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Bosworth, and other senior U.S. officials
repeatedly said that Washington is prepared to offer a comprehensive package of
incentives for the North if it dismantles its nuclear program in a verifiable and
irreversible way.
A diplomatic source in Beijing said, however, Obama's letter was more detailed.
The source, requesting anonymity, said the U.S. president offered to open a
liaison office in Pyongyang if North Korea rejoins the six-party talks and begins
dismantling its atomic program.
The liaison office, if established, is apparently a prelude to full-scale efforts
for normalizing relations between the two sides that fought fiercely during the
1950-53 Korean War. The war ended in an armistice, and a formal peace treaty has
yet to be signed.
"Once the liaison office is set up in Pyongyang, it will lead to full-fledged
discussions on a peace treaty or normalizing relations," the source said.
South Korean foreign ministry officials denied the source's remarks.
"We were briefed (by the U.S. side) on the contents of President Obama's letter.
It does not include any content related to the establishment of such an office,"
a senior ministry official said, adding it mostly contains what U.S. officials
have already said in public so far.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)