US sends letter of apology over protocol dispute to North Korea

SEOUL, SEPT 7: The United States on Thursday sent a letter to North Korea apologizing for airline security checks which led North Korea to withdraw from the UN Millennium Summit, South Korea’s Foreign Minister Lee Joung-Binn said. "A letter from a high-ranking US official was delivered to North Korea today," Lee told journalists. "In the letter, the United States expressed regret at the ‘mistake’ by American Airlines and hoped that the incident would not have any negative impact on the develoment of US-North Korea ties," he said.

North Korea cancelled its attendance at the UN summit, claiming their delegation was told they would be subject to a strip search before they could board an American Airlines flight from Frankfurt to New York. Pyongyang accused Washington of orchestrating the incident in order to scuttle a planned meeting between the North’s nominal head of state, Kim Yong-Nam, and South Korea’s President Kim Dae-Jung to follow up on the Korean summit with the North’s Supreme leader Kim Jong-Il in June in Pyongyang. Washington expressed regret at the incident but insisted there was no official US government involvement. The official said other countries, including North Korea’s strong ally, China, regard the incident as a mere unfortunate event which stemmed from misunderstandings. "The United States is doing its best efforts to resolve the dispute and we expect to see a positive outcome," he said.