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Envoy's resignation leaves void at head of Trump's Korea diplomacy

March 01, 2018 20:32·
U.S. special representative for North Korea policy

U.S. special representative for North Korea policy

Yun also engaged in frequent shuttle diplomacy on the North Korean issue, making numerous trips to Japan and South Korea to liaise with American allies.

Joseph Yun, the 30-year veteran of the USA foreign service who retained quiet contacts with North Korea through the Trump administration's turbulent first year, will retire this week - just as Washington and Pyongyang step up considerations for formal diplomatic talks.

It said White House officials also suspect the North is trying to drive a wedge between South Korea and the U.S.

"We are sorry to see him retire, but our diplomatic efforts regarding North Korea will continue based on our maximum pressure campaign to isolate the #DPRK until it agrees to begin credible talks toward a denuclearized Korean peninsula", the State Department spokeswoman added on Twitter.

Wit also anxious the potential setback the absence of Yun will leave the administration, saying "nobody in the administration has his experience".

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Yun, a 32-year foreign service veteran, told US media his retirement was a personal decision and that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had tried to persuade him to stay. "To imply that Ambassador Yun is the only one who is capable of handling North Korea would simply be wrong".

And former deputy assistant secretary of defence for East Asia Abraham Denmark said on Twitter that Mr Yun's retirement was "a huge loss for the United States government at a critical moment". "There is a bit of a lull in activity and I thought it would be a good (time) to get out".

Spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the denuclearization of North Korea remained the top US national security priority and Washington's "maximum pressure" campaign to bring that about was succeeding. "We have a deep bench of very experienced people".

Washington has said repeatedly that any talks must be aimed at North Korea giving up its nuclear weapons, something North Korea has rejected. But the U.S. has pressed on with ever tougher sanctions, including a new set on the North's shipping capabilities.

Last week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced the toughest sanctions ever put in place against North Korea, which involve the targeting of shipping and vessels that allow the regime to sustain itself economically. Trump warned last week that if sanctions fail, the United States would move to "phase two" in its pressure campaign, which could be "very rough" and "very unfortunate for the world".

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