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The former U.S. special envoy for North Korea Joseph DeTrani was on Wednesday appointed to the newly created post of ¡°mission manager¡± for North Korea under the director for national intelligence, to whose office he was moved on Dec. 3.
Intelligence Director John Negroponte outlined DeTrani's duties as confirming intelligence reports on North Korea and filling in any gaps, and serving as a stand-in for the director in various capacities. The post was created at the recommendation of a presidential committee that found Washington¡¯s intelligence on the reclusive country ¡°woefully inadequate.¡± The same day, Leslie Ireland, a former executive assistant to the C.I.A. director, was named mission manager for Iran.
DeTrani, who was the U.S. representative in the moribund Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO), has frequently acted as a point man in unofficial contacts between North Korea and the U.S. in relation to their dispute over Pyongyang¡¯s nuclear program. He became special envoy in 2003.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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