A senior South Korean official met with Frank Jannuzi, a key foreign policy adviser of President-elect Barack Obama last week to discuss North Korea's nuclear ambitions and other issues of bilateral concern, Yonhap News reported quoting diplomatic sources in Washington Sunday.
The meeting, the first of its kind since Obama's election last Tuesday, was held in New York Friday soon after Jannuzi attended a seminar organized by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP) where Ri Gun, director general of the North American Affairs Bureau of North Korea's Foreign Ministry, was also present.
"I understand Hwang Joon-kook, head of the (South Korean Foreign Ministry's) bureau dealing with the North Korean nuclear issue, met with Frank Jannuzi Friday to discuss the North Korean nuclear and other issues," the source was quoted as saying without elaborating on what they discussed.
Hwang also met with Sung Kim, the U.S. special envoy for six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions, but did not meet with Ri Gun, the source said, noting Hwang was not invited to the seminar which both Ri, Jannuzi and Kim attended for in-depth discussions on the North Korean nuclear and other bilateral issues in the first direct contact between North Korean officials and Obama aides since Tuesday's election.
Hwang visited New York for four days from Wednesday to meet with Kim, Jannuzi and other U.S. officials to coordinate their positions on the Noth Korean nuclear issue prior to and after Ri's meeting with Jannuzi and Kim at the seminar.
Another source said he had no idea of whether Jannuzi proposed a visit to Pyongyang to discuss preparations for another higher-level visit to the North Korean capital to pave the way for Obama's possible visit to Pyongyang.
"I think it's a bit early because President-elect Obama has not yet been inaugurated," the source said. "After Obama's inauguration on Jan. 20, there should be dialogue between the two sides, although I am not sure the president-level dialogue will actually take place."
Allegations are that Obama may soon send former Secretary of State Colin Powell or another prominent figure as his special envoy to Pyongyang to prepare for a possible visit there by himself to make a breakthrough in the on-and-off multilateral nuclear talks that began in 2003.
While facing his Republican rival John McCain in a presidential debate last month, Obama dismissed McCain's criticism that it is naive to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il without preconditions, saying he is not meeting the North Korean leader in the first place and that any summit meeting should be followed by due preparations.
North Korea's Ri, meanwhile, told reporters in New York over the past weekend that Pyongyang was ready to handle any U.S. government, saying "We are ready to respond to any U.S. administration whatever its North Korea policy may be. We've handled many U.S. administrations, some seeking dialogue with us and others trying to isolate and oppress us."