The decision to have Amb. Sung Kim, the new U.S. special envoy for North Korea policy, double as deputy assistant secretary was because of his extensive experience and great capabilities, an official said Wednesday.
Kim succeeded Amb. Glyn Davies as special representative for North Korea policy, but he was also ordered to double as deputy assistant secretary for Korea and Japan. Kim, a Korean-American, served as ambassador to South Korea from 2011 until recently.
His prior experience includes serving as special envoy to the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program, director of the Office of Korean Affairs, and assignments to the embassy in Tokyo and the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs.
"He is somebody who came from an extensive and impressive experience," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said during a Foreign Press Center briefing in response to a question whether Kim's assumption of the two positions means the position of special envoy for North Korea policy is less important than before.
"It certainly doesn't change the level of importance we place on either of these positions. It just means that he's very capable and he's someone with a great level of experience and I think that speaks to how much importance we place in these positions," she said.
Should the long-stalled six-party nuclear talks reopen, Kim will serve as the lead U.S. negotiator. Kim's deputy in the talks is Sydney Seiler, a former director for Korea at the White House's National Security Council, who took over in September as the special envoy for the nuclear talks.
Asked how the North's recent release of the two last-remaining American detainees -- Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller -- would affect U.S. policy on Pyongyang's nuclear program or human rights record, Psaki said there won't be any change.
"It does not make any difference with our discussions or our concerns about North Korea's nuclear ambitions, nor does it change our concerns about their human rights record," she said.
With regard to the nuclear standoff, Psaki also reiterated the U.S. position that the "ball remains in North Korea's court," urging Pyongyang to prove to the international community that it will abide by its obligations and show seriousness about giving up its nuclear program. (Yonhap)
