WASHINGTON - The State Department says it is “deeply disappointed” in North Korea’s decision to withdraw for a second time an invitation to a U.S. envoy to discuss the release of a jailed American businessman.
Department spokesman Jen Psaki on Sunday called for Kenneth Bae’s immediate release.
The decision apparently came in protest of forthcoming regularly scheduled joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea.
Bae was quoted Friday in a pro-Pyongyang newspaper in Japan as saying he had been notified that the U.S. envoy on North Korean human-rights issues would meet him as early as today.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 02/10/2014