Washington offers envoy to help free Bae in DPRK

Ambassador King makes renewed effort to secure release of US citizen

The United States has offered to send a special envoy to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to win the release of a jailed US citizen, but signaled that any larger talks with Pyongyang will require it to give up its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Kenneth Bae, 45, has been held for more than a year by the DPRK, where he has been convicted of trying to overthrow the state and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.

Bae, a Korean-American, met a group of foreign and local reporters on Monday and asked Washington to help get him home, the DPRK state news agency and foreign media based in Pyongyang reported.

"We hope this decision by DPRK authorities to allow Kenneth Bae to meet with reporters signals their willingness to release him," a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters on Monday.

"We have offered to send Ambassador King to Pyongyang to secure Mr Bae's release," the official added, referring to Robert King, Washington's DPRK human rights envoy.

"We have asked the North Koreans this, and await their early response," the official added.

Pyongyang rejected an attempt by King to secure Bae's release in August.

It was not immediately clear why the DPRK authorities allowed the event at Pyongyang Friendship Hospital, Bae's second media appearance since his arrest in 2012 after he led a tour group into the country.

The DPRK's KCNA news agency reported that Bae himself had asked to hold the news conference.

Bae's sister in the United States said that while her brother appeared to be in decent health during the news conference, he was "distressed" and likely "worn down physically and emotionally" after 15 months of imprisonment.

Terri Chung, who lives in the Seattle area, also apologized to Pyongyang, pleading for her brother's release and for US officials to step up clemency efforts on his behalf.

"We understand that Kenneth has been convicted of crimes under DPRK laws. Our family sincerely apologizes on Kenneth's behalf," Chung said, adding: "We humbly ask for your mercy to release my brother."

Bae's son Jonathan urged Washington to respond to the plea.

His father's words "obviously mean that Washington has not done enough", Jonathan told Reuters by phone.

"We need to send someone over and bring him home. That's what it's going to take. He needs to come home," he said.

'Credible' talks

Bae's appeal came days after the DPRK demanded that the Republic of Korea and the US halt annual military drills due in February and March and offered Seoul a halt to mutual hostilities.

The DPRK official newspaper Rodong Sinmun continued the conciliatory note in a commentary carried on Tuesday, saying the nation was open to friendly ties with any country "on a basis of mutual respect and equality, even with capitalist countries".

US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns said on Tuesday during a two-day visit to Seoul that Washington and Seoul were concerned about the prospect of "further reckless behavior" from Pyongyang.

He reiterated on Tuesday after holding talks with Kim Kyou-hyun, the ROK's first vice-foreign minister, that the allies' top priority in relations with the DPRK was dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear program, Xinhua reported.

In 2013, the DPRK launched a months-long barrage of threats against Seoul, Tokyo and Washington, saying it would stage missile and nuclear strikes, triggering a sharp escalation in regional tensions and military deployments.

Burns said that Washington and Seoul would be willing to return to "credible" talks, but only if Pyongyang committed to "authentic negotiations aimed at denuclearization".

Reuters - Xinhua

US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns speaks to the media after a meeting with ROK Vice-Foreign Minister Kim Kyou-hyun in Seoul on Tuesday. Washington said on Monday it was ready to send an envoy to Pyongyang to bring back a jailed US citizen. Jung Yeon-Je / Agence France-Presse

(China Daily 01/22/2014 page10)