N. Korea criticizes US envoy on human rights for meddling in nuclear talks

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
North Korea criticized the US official tasked with monitoring human rights in the communist country Monday for interfering in international nuclear negotiations. Earlier this month, Jay Lefkowitz, President George W. Bush's envoy on North Korean human rights, said Pyongyang was not serious about disarming and would probably still have nuclear weapons when the next US president takes over in early 2009. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice quickly rebuked Lefkowitz, saying his remarks did not represent official US policy. "Lefkowitz was recently put into shame for indiscreetly trying to interfere in the nuclear issue," the North's Korean Central News Agency said.