NKorea rejects US offer to send high-level envoy
WASHINGTON - North Korea is not accepting American offers to send a high-level envoy to seek the release of three detained Americans, a senior US official said.
Robert King, the US special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that freeing the detainees could provide a diplomatic opening in ties, also snared by Pyongyang's development of nuclear weapons. But he said that Washington would not give into attempts to "extort" political gain from the detentions.
North Korea this week sentenced 24-year-old Matthew Miller to six years hard labor, deepening US concern over the cases. Miller, who according to the court tore up his visa on arrival in Pyongyang in April, was convicted of entering the country illegally to commit espionage. Another trial is expected soon for Jeffrey Fowle, who was arrested in May for leaving a Bible at a sailor's club.
