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Group of U.S. experts to visit N. Korea this month: sources
By Tony Chang
SEOUL, Nov. 5 (Yonhap) -- A group of U.S experts on Korean affairs plan to visit North Korea later this month to meet with key officials involved in Pyongyang's nuclear program, informed sources said Thursday.
Jack Pritchard, president of the Korea Economic Institute (KEI), and Scott Snyder, director of the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy at the Asia Foundation, are expected to visit North Korea from Nov. 21-24, a senior diplomatic source said, asking for anonymity.
The source said Pritchard mentioned the travel plan during his South Korea visit last month.
Another diplomatic source said he was aware that Pritchard, Snyder, and a fellow researcher from the KEI are planning to visit North Korea in a private capacity.
"The purpose of the visit is to meet with key North Korean officials involved in the country's nuclear program," the source said.
After months of provocations, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il indicated Pyongyang would return to six-party denuclearization talks pending the outcome of bilateral talks with the U.S.
Officials at the U.S. State Department have repeated that they are considering whether to accept Pyongyang's invitation for Stephen Bosworth, special representative for North Korea policy, to visit there and if so, when he will make the high-stakes trip.
Sources said that Pritchard and the party have consulted with the State Department on the planned trip and are expected to brief the U.S. government of the results.
U.S. officials argue the North's recent conciliatory overtures are the result of international financial sanctions and an overall arms embargo, which they said effectively cut off revenues from arms sales, one of the limited sources for obtaining hard currency for the impoverished communist state.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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