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On Tuesday at 1 p.m., an inconspicuous looking fax from the U.S. Embassy quietly exploded in the press room of the Foreign Ministry. There in black and white was mention of a U.S. request for Seoul to fall in line with financial sanctions it imposed on North Korea.
The ministry had mentioned no such request when it briefed reporters on a meeting with U.S. Treasury officials the previous day. Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon predictably faced a barrage of questions on the discrepancy during a regular briefing later in the day.
The official who had briefed reporters the previous day reappeared, obviously disgruntled. Asked Monday whether the U.S. had made any requests of Korea, he said there were none, emphasizing the point several times. The requests in fact came in a meeting between the U.S. investigators and the Ministry of Finance and Economy, which did not hold a separate briefing.
WashingtonĄ¯s financial sanctions against North Korean firms go beyond a technical matter: they are what Pyongyang says stands in the way of a resumption of six-party talks on its nuclear program. The South Korean government is making efforts behind the scenes to help reconvene the six-nation talks, efforts Washington is hardly unaware of. As a result, there are those in the diplomatic corps who say the U.S. is trying to catch Seoul off guard as well as those who charge the Korean government with trying to hide the truth.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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