Could humanitarian mission pave way for nuclear deal?

[ProSense]

Could humanitarian mission pave way for nuclear deal?

By Warren P. Strobel | McClatchy Newspapers

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The White House and State Department worked aggressively to dispel the notion that U.S. concessions on the nuclear front led to the release of journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who arrived in California early Wednesday after former President Bill Clinton secured their release.

Obama aides said that North Korea must demonstrate that it's ready to abide by past pledges to dismantle its nuclear weapons, and should return to six-nation nuclear talks that it pulled out of this spring. The North has instead been seeking direct talks with the U.S.

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Clinton was given two U.S. government briefings before leaving for North Korea, the second one Saturday, a second senior U.S. official told reporters in a conference call late Tuesday.

Clinton wasn't the only envoy considered. North Korea also appeared to signal at one point it would accept a visit by Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, whose office was involved in the behind-the-scenes diplomacy. However, a White House official said, "We didn't take the Kerry (invitation from North Korea) to be real" and settled on Clinton as the envoy who could produce the journalists' freedom.

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Appears the administration took great steps to keep the humanitarian and nuclear negotiations separate.