Treasury Meeting with DPRK Canceled

In the latest diplomatic row between the United States and North Korea, a planned meeting between North Korean and Treasury officials was scrubbed this week over a dispute about the meaning of the word "bilateral." The dispute has its roots in the last round of six-nation talks on North Korea`s weapons programs, conducted last month in Beijing.

During the talks, the North Korean officials complained bitterly about recent Treasury Department actions against companies and banks allegedly involved in counterfeiting, money laundering and arms proliferation on behalf of North Korea.

The issue may seem arcane, but it has achieved outsize importance among North Korea watchers as a sign that the Bush administration has begun to limit its diplomatic flexibility in dealing with North Korea since a tentative agreement was reached in September for North Korea to give up its nuclear programs.

                                 

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