North Korea has rejected U.S. efforts to discuss the detention of three Americans, a U.S. diplomat said on Monday, adding the secretive state was missing a chance to build relations with Washington.
U.S. special representative for North Korean policy Glyn Davies said Pyongyang's refusal to discuss the issue was a sign that it "doesn't have an interest in coming back into the international system as a responsible country".
"One of the greatest impediments to getting back to any sort of a more productive place with North Korea is the fact that for so long they have held Kenneth Bae and have since picked up these other two Americans and as we say are really using them," Davies said.
Americans Matthew Miller and Jeffrey Fowle are also being held by North Korea.
North Korea has twice canceled visits by Robert King, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, to discuss Bae's case.
"There have been other efforts behind the scenes to seek to have these conversations with the North Koreans. They simply won't engage us. It's very frustrating," Davies told reporters in Beijing, where he met Chinese officials before traveling to Seoul and Tokyo.
SOURCE:REUTERS
