WASHINGTON (AP) — The senior U.S. diplomat who has retained back-channel contacts with North Korea amid high tension over the pariah nation’s nuclear program is retiring.
The State Department says Joseph Yun, a 30-year veteran of the U.S. foreign service, has decided to retire for personal reasons. Spokeswoman Heather Nauert says Secretary of State Rex Tillerson “has reluctantly accepted his decision and wished him well.”
Yun’s retirement comes amid continuing tensions but also a glimmer of diplomatic possibility after an overture from North Korea for talks with the U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday responded saying that will happen only “under the right conditions.”
Nauert says U.S. diplomatic efforts will continue based on its maximum pressure campaign to isolate North Korea until it agrees to “credible talks toward a denuclearized Korean peninsula.”
No one with a soul, a heart, and a reputation wants to work for the President Gaslight McTraitorTot III
Jaaaaared! Another addition for your portfolio.
If the Trump administration had been at all competent and they hadn’t gutted the state department and demoralized every professional in demanding jobs, this wouldn’t be worrisome. That’s the whole point of maintaining a high caliber, professional team that isn’t cut to the bone.
Continuing tensions. A glimmer of diplomatic possibility. An overture from North Korea for talks.
This is a job for Ivanka Trump, building on her unrivaled experience as the leader of the U.S. delegation at the Winter Olympics closing ceremonies in Pyeongchang.
No envoy, no ambassador, corporate executive head of a gutted State Department. What could POSSIBLY go wrong?