DPRK trip by US Governor only focuses on MIA issue
5/4/2007 17:02
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who leads a private US delegation to
visit Pyongyang next week, will focus narrowly on the recovery of the remains of
U. S. soldiers killed in the Korean War, the State Department said
yesterday.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters that he
did not expect Richardson would raise the nuclear issues during his April 8-11
trip.
"He (Richardson)'s actually consulted with the State Department, as
well as the White House, on this trip. The narrow focus of it is on this MIA
(missing in action) issue and getting back the remains of these missing
soldiers," McCormack said.
"I think he does have an understanding of what the
mission is and what it isn't," the spokesman said.
McCormack made the remarks
apparently in response to a statement by a spokesman for Richardson that
"Hopefully this trip will advance the progress made by the Bush administration
during the six-party talks to dismantle nuclear weapons on the Korean
peninsula."
Since the six-party talks, involving the United States, the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea, China, Russia, South Korea and Japan, had
a breakthrough Feb. 13 nuclear agreement in Beijing, there has been little
progress due to the dispute over the transfer of US$25 million in the DPRK funds
frozen in a Macau bank.
More than 33,000 US troops were reportedly killed in
the Korean War, which began in June 1950. More than 8,100 US servicemen still
are listed as missing from the Korean War.
Xinhua
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