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The abrupt suspension of operations to retrieve the remains of U.S. soldiers missing in action in North Korea was part of an attempt by the Bush administration to further isolate the Pyongyang regime, the Los Angeles Times said Saturday, as was the firing of the head of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO).
L. Gordon Flake, a North Korea expert and head of the Mansfield Center for Pacific Affairs in Washington, told the paper a series of recent steps by the U.S. government were signs that Washington was "gearing up for the next phase" now that it appears unlikely Pyongyang will return to the six-party talks on its nuclear program. The article titled ˇ°U.S. May Be Trying to Isolate N. Koreaˇ± also quoted an unnamed former State Department official as saying suspension of the search for remains was an effort to increase pressure on the Stalinist country.
KEDO, a U.S.-led international consortium formed to implement a nuclear deal with North Korea, on Tuesday decided not to renew the contract of its executive director Charles Kartman, who had been a strong proponent of discussions with the North.
(Heo Yong-beom, heo@chosun.com )
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