hankyoreh

Choe Son-hui

The US strenuously denied any meeting between its senior representative for the Six-Party Talks and the head of the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s American affairs bureau during their recent visits to Beijing.

During a regular briefing on June 23, US State Department spokesperson John Kirby responded to questions from reporters asking for confirmation after North Korean envoy Choe Son-hui’s curiously remarked that she might have met with the department’s special representative for North Korea policy Sung Kim.

“[Kim] did not meet with [Choe]. I can confirm that,” Kirby replied.

When asked why the two had not met, Kirby said, “There was no planning to have that meeting.”

In response to additional questions on whether Kim and Choe may have exchanged greetings, Kirby curtly replied, “There was no meeting, and as I understand it, there was no group meeting at which the two were equally present.”

Washington’s denial not only of any unofficial meeting but also of any communication at all with the North Korean envoy appears motivated by concerns that it could send to wrong signal to Pyongyang and other countries on its intentions regarding dialogue. Earlier this year, North Korea carried out a fourth nuclear test in the face of objections from the international community. On June 22, it showed substantial progress in a test launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) capable of striking Guam, a US territory.

Both Kim and Choe were present at the Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue (NEACD), a three-day event in Beijing that began on June 21. On June 23, Choe gave a curious reply when asked by reporters before the North Korean embassy in Beijing on whether she had met with Kim.

“Ask the US about that. I will not comment on any sensitive matters,” Choe said by way of an answer.

Despite the strenuous denial from Washington, Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper, citing an unnamed source, reported on June 24 that Kim and Choe had had an unofficial meeting during the dialogue on June 22.

By Yi Yong-in and Gil Yun-hyung, Washington and Tokyo correspondents

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