Politics
12:23, 27-Feb-2018
US top negotiator on DPRK set to retire
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Joseph Yun, chief US negotiator with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) will retire for personal reasons at the end of this week.
Joseph Yun, who is in his early 60s, told CNN that “it was completely my decision to retire at this time.” He also mentioned that US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson accepted his resignation “with regret.”
Yun has led the US diplomatic outreach to the DPRK since taking his post under former US President Barack Obama in 2016.
Yun traveled to the DPRK last June to help secure the release of American student Otto Warmbier, whose subsequent death further soured relations between Washington and Pyongyang.
US President Donald Trump has charted a more confrontational approach to the DPRK and its nuclear weapons program, forcing Yun to often operate under mixed White House messages of impending military strikes as well as diplomatic overtures.
"Ambassador Joe Yun, a respected member of the Senior Foreign Service, has decided to retire for personal reasons," US State Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson "has reluctantly accepted his decision and wished him well," she added.
Source(s): Reuters