U.S. Ambassador Cancels Meeting with MDP Chairman
SEOUL, March 7 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Christopher Hill called off a meeting with the chairman of the country's minor opposition Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) Monday, saying it was not the right time, party officials said.
The cancellation came just one hour before the U.S. diplomat was to meet Hahn Hwa-kap at 2 p.m. at the MDP's headquarters in downtown Seoul, according to the party officials.
MDP spokesman Yoo Jong-pil said an official at the U.S. embassy called to say "the timing was not appropriate." Experts said the U.S. diplomat, who is also the top U.S. negotiator with North Korea over the latter's nuclear weapons program, may have been pressured to take more cautious steps on issues dealing with Pyongyang.
MDP officials had said the party chairman and the U.S. diplomat were to discuss a trip to Pyongyang by five U.S. senators including Hillary Clinton of New York.
The New York senator's press secretary Philippe Reines, however, said in a letter to Yonhap News Agency that no such trip has been discussed.
The U.S. Embassy in Seoul later released a statement saying, "press reports incorrectly indicated that Ambassador Hill had requested a meeting this afternoon with MDP chairman Hahn Hwa-kap to discuss a Senate trip to North Korea."
The statement also said the meeting had nothing to do with Clinton or any other alleged visits to North Korea by U.S. senators, and was only canceled due to a scheduling conflict.
The United States and South Korea have met in three rounds of six-party talks that also involved the North, Japan, China and Russia to bring a peaceful end to the 29-month nuclear dispute that erupted in late 2003.
The countries have been unable to schedule the next round since the North refused to attend a scheduled meeting in September, citing what it calls hostile U.S. policy toward it.
That's diplo-speak for "Hillary was furious when her plans to visit North Korea leaked out".