The White House rejected a South Korean media report the President Barack Obama proposed setting up a liaison office in Pyongyang in an effort to restart stalled nuclear negotiations, according to dpa. "That is untrue," said Ben Chang, a spokesman for the White House"s National Security Council. Yonhap, citing diplomatic sources in Beijing, reported that Obama suggested the office to persuade North Korea to return to the six- nation talks in a letter delivered by Stephen Bosworth, the special US envoy who made his first trip to Pyongyang last week. The US State Department has confirmed the letter"s existence, but has refused to discuss the content, saying it was a private diplomatic communication. Meanwhile, North Korea"s official KCNA news agency confirmed Friday that North Korea"s First Vice Minister Kang Sok Ju received the Obama letter from Bosworth on December 9. North Korea withdrew from the talks in April and has vowed not to return to them as long as the US maintains what Pyongyang regards as a hostile attitude in denying the legitimacy of its communist regime. The United States has no formal diplomatic presence in North Korea and is represented by the Swedish embassy. Washington has pledged to improve diplomatic relations and eventually establish formal ties if North Korea implements a 2005 agreement to abandon nuclear weapons.
