US officials made two secret visits to Pyongyang in 2012
Seoul (AsiaNews/Agencies) - White House officials secretly visited North Korea last year in an attempt to de-escalate the conflict over Pyongyang's nuclear programme, which included three nuclear tests in recent months. The brief visits that took place in April and August were unsuccessful and the North Korean regime appears to have returned to wartime rhetoric.
Former US officials confirmed the visit but the US government has neither denied nor confirmed it. The April trip was meant to prevent the launch of a long-distance rocket. North Korea went ahead anyway but the test failed. A similar successful test was carried out in December, showing North Korea had the capability of hitting Japan.
The April trip was led by Joseph DeTrani, an expert on North Korea who then headed the National Counter Proliferation Centre in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which co-ordinates US intelligence agencies.
It was unclear who led the August trip, but the timing suggests it was designed to bring Pyongyang back to the six-nation talks set up by the United Nations to stop nuclear escalation in the region.
Visits by US officials to North Korea are not new. The last official one was in 2009 when US special envoy Stephen Bosworth sought to restart stalled six-party negotiations on North Korea's nuclear programme. US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright also made a visit in 2000, famous for her exchange of e-mail addresses with Kim Jong-il.
Without confirming the 2012 trips, DeTrani said it made "eminent sense" for the United States to conduct talks with North Korea after Kim Jong-il's death.
DeTrani noted that he and other US experts initially saw signs that Kim Jong-un might behave less rigidly than his father. In the end though, his military provocations forced the international community to change its mind.
Following the last test on 12 February, North Korea revamped its anti-Western propaganda, indicating its readiness to destroy South Korea and the United States.
State decorations, medals and other benefits were given to 11,592 scientists, technicians, workers and other officials for their contribution to the last atomic test. "They are now spending pleasant days in Pyongyang, given greatest favour and privilege," Korean Central News Agency noted.
As a way of keeping its adversaries off guard, Pyongyang announced plans to offer a 3G data service for foreign visitors and residents from abroad.
North Korean mobile phone provider Koryolink will offer the service in cooperation with Egyptian telecom firm Orascom. The latter estimates that more than a million North Koreans have access to mobile phones but they will not be able to use the new service.
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