Pyongyang says not interested in meeting US veep

PYEONGCHANG: North Korea says it is not interested in meeting US Vice-President Mike Pence while he is in South Korea for the Pyeongchang Olympics.

With Pyongyang sending a senior delegation – including Kim Jongun’s younger sister – rumours had circulated such a meeting could be in the works.

A top Foreign Ministry official seemed to rule that out in comments carried by the North’s staterun media yesterday.

“We have no intention to meet with the US side during the stay in South Korea,” the official was quoted as saying.

“We are not going to use such a sports festival as the Winter Olympics as a political lever. There is no need to do so.”

Pence was to arrive in South Korea from Japan yesterday and move to Pyeongchang today.

Kim’s sister, the first member of the North’s ruling family to ever visit South Korea, is expected to come today just ahead of the opening ceremony.

The mood has hardly been conducive to any US-North Korea meeting despite the proximity in Pyeongchang.

Washington has been stepping up its anti-Pyongyang rhetoric while North Korea has been trying to use the Olympics as an opportunity to ease tensions with South Korea.

Some see Pyongyang’s conciliatory gestures toward Seoul as a calculated move to drive a wedge between the United States and its ally.

If that’s the case, it may already be paying off for Kim.

In response to a North Korean request, Seoul has agreed to postpone annual military manoeuvres with the United States until after the games are over and has asked for some sanctions to be waived so that more contacts and exchanges with the North can be made.

Pence, meanwhile, is taking a decidedly hard-line approach.

Before departing for South Korea, he announced the United States would unveil in the coming days “the toughest and most aggressive round of economic sanctions on North Korea ever”.

Pyongyang is already the subject of wide-ranging sanctions and details of what the United States might target next have yet to be announced.

He is also bringing as his personal guest Fred Warmbier, the father of Otto Warmbier, an American who died last year days after his release from captivity in North Korea.

The North has denied mistreating Otto, although what caused his death remains a mystery, and Pence’s decision to bring his father to the games is sure to be seen in Pyongyang as a very provocative move.

Even so, Pence and other US officials seemed to be open to the possibility of a meeting, even if they were not actively seeking one.

When asked by reporters if he would be willing to have some sort of interaction, Pence had said, “we’ll see what happens”.

With the North’s position now official, he probably won’t have to. — AP