<%@LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> WorldTribune.com: Mobile — North Korea invites Kissinger as outlaw state, elder statesman eye coming of Obama

North Korea invites Kissinger as outlaw state, elder statesman eye coming of Obama

Wednesday, December 17, 2008 Free Headline Alerts

East-Asia-Intel.com

SEOUL — North Korea has extended an invitation to former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to visit Pyongyang, a senior ruling party lawmaker in South Korea said.

North Korea watchers in Seoul suggested the purpose of the invition was to smooth over major policy differences with the United States as President-elect Barack Obama prepares to take office.

Kissinger, for his part, set as a condition for such a trip that he be named an official envoy by the President of the United States.

The invitation was made by Ri Gun, director general of the North American Affairs Bureau of North Korea's Foreign Ministry. He met Kissinger in New York last month, according to Rep. Chung Mong-Joon, a member of the South's Grand National Party.

During his New York visit, Ri also met Frank Jannuzi, a key foreign policy adviser to President-elect Barack Obama. Chung said he was told by Kissinger that he had been invited by the North during his visit to Washington last week.

Kissinger told Chung that he would visit "if two conditions were met: a U.S. president officially asks him to do so as an envoy, and the North pledges to dismantle its nuclear weapons programs," Chung said.

The remarks come amid reports that Obama may send a special envoy to North Korea soon after his inauguration on Jan. 20 to discuss ways to dismantle the North's nuclear arsenal.

In addition to Kissinger, other potential candidates include Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell, who served as secretaries of state under the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, respectively.

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