U.S. official says no intention of bilateral meeting with N. Korea

By Kim Deok-hyun
BALI, Indonesia, July 21 (Yonhap) -- The United States has no intention to meet with North Korea during a regional security forum this week, a senior U.S. diplomat said Thursday, denying a Japanese media report that Washington seeks to meet with the North on the sidelines of an ASEAN meeting here.
"That's not true," Kurt Campbell, assistant U.S. secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, told Yonhap News Agency.
The report is "absolutely incorrect ... There is no meeting between the U.S. and North Korea," Campbell said.
Earlier in the day, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported, citing a diplomatic source, that Campbell had asked North Korea for such a meeting.
The report said the U.S. is apparently seeking to arrange contact between U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun in Bali.
kdh@yna.co.kr