N Korea scraps first official visit to US

N Korea scraps first official visit to US
Agence France Presse

BEIJING, Jan 6: North Korea today ruled out sending a senior envoy to the US for an unprecedented official visit, saying the isolationist Stalinist state still regarded Washington as an enemy. ``Our delegation cannot visit the US under present circumstances,'' North Korean ambassador to Beijing Chu Chang-Jun told a press meet. It was the first indication from the hermit state after a long official silence that it would not go ahead with the visit, which had been discussed in bilateral talks in Berlin in November.

``The US must withdraw its troops from South Korea and stop threatening North Korea,'' Chu said. ``Then we will not regard the US as an enemy.''