U.S. envoy will not visit N. Korea until U.S. journalists are freed

SEOUL, May 17 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. special envoy for North Korea policy, Stephen
Bosworth, will visit Pyongyang to seek ways to revive stalled six-party nuclear
disarmament talks only after two American journalists detained there are
released, a South Korean government official said Sunday.
The six-party talks, which began in 2003, have been in jeopardy since North Korea
vowed to quit them to protest what it called the "unfair" condemnation by the
U.N. Security Council of its April 5 rocket launch. The North expelled outside
monitors and threatened to conduct a second nuclear test.
North Korea has confirmed that Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who are accused of
"illegally" entering the North's territory by crossing into the communist country
from China, have been detained there since March 17. Both journalists work for
former U.S. Vice President Al Gore's San Francisco-based Current TV.
"We understand Bosworth is pushing through a visit to North Korea," said the
government official. "He may decide on the visit after the issue of the two U.S.
female journalists detained by the North is resolved."
If Bosworth visits North Korea before the Americans are released, North Korea may
use them as a bargaining chip in the six-party talks, the official said.
"If so, the situation would get complicated," the official told reporters.
During a recent visit to South Korea, Bosworth said Seoul and Washington will
keep the door to dialogue with North Korea open, but warned that Pyongyang will
face "consequences" if it takes extreme actions, such as another nuclear test.
Pyongyang detonated a nuclear device in 2006, prompting the U.N. council to adopt
a sanctions resolution.
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