N. Korea deports American, announces new weapons

Seoul, Nov. 16: North Korea on Friday said it will deport an American citizen it detained for illegal entrance, an apparent concession to the United States that came even as it announced the test of a newly developed but unspecified “ultramodern” weapon that will be seen as a pressuring tactic by Washington.

The two whiplash announcements, which seemed aimed at both appeasing and annoying Washington, suggest North Korea wants to keep alive dialogue with the US even as it struggles to express its frustration at stalled nuclear diplomacy.

THE TWO whiplash announcements, aimed at appeasing and annoying Washington, indicated that North Korea wanted to keep up dialogue with US

North Korea in the past has held arrested American citizens for an extended period before high-profile US figures travelled to Pyongyang to secure their freedom. Last year, American university student Otto Warmbier died days after he was released in a coma from North Korea after 17 months in captivity.

On Friday, the Korean Central News Agency said American national Bruce Byron Lowrance was detained on October 16 for illegally entering the country from China. It said he told investigators that he was under the “manipulation” of the US’ CIA.

A short KCNA dispatch said North Korea decided to deport him but did not say why and when.

The North’s decision matches its general push for engagement and diplomacy with the United States this year after a string of weapons tests in 2017, and a furious U.S. response, had some fearing war on the Korean Peninsula.