Seiler: Seoul-Tokyo stand-off not hampering North Korea denuclearization efforts

A White House official said Tuesday that a soured relationship between South Korea and Japan is not taking a toll itself on efforts to denuclearize North Korea. Sydney Seiler, director for Korea at the National Security Council, stressed both Seoul and Tokyo remain committed to working together on the communist nation despite their often-prickly relations, largely over shared history. "So, I don't believe that the denuclearization of NorthKorea is being hindered by one particular obstacle other than Pyongyang's unwillingness to seriously engage in authentic and credible negotiations that lead to concrete denuclearization steps," he told reporters after a forum here hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Seiler is known as one of the most authoritative experts on Korea issues in the Obama administration. He has long followed North Korea's policies. In the forum, he said the U.S. sees no major policy changes in North Korea under the leadership of Kim Jong-un. He noted Pyongyang's stated goal of pursuing a nuclear program and economic development. North Korea hopes that the international community will be worn out andacknowledge it as a nuclear power, he said. The North's sudden execution of Jang Song-thaek, once the No. 2 leader, has spawned speculation on what's going on in the secretive nation. Seiler said North Korea is "always predictably unpredictable."    On a Korean-American man jailed there, he said the U.S. government is still waiting for a reply to its offer to send a special envoy to Pyongyang for discussions on the issue. "The North Koreans have not been responsive to those appeals over the course of the year," he said. "We continue to ask North Korea for their pardon of Kenneth Bae."    It may be a positive sign that North Korea allowed Bae to ask for Washington's help in front of television cameras over the weekend, he said. The U.S. hopes that it is an indication that "North Korea is considering moving forward with progress by which Bae can be pardoned and returned," Seiler said. He would not be drawn into a question about what the U.S. would do if Pyongyang rejects its proposal to dispatch Ambassador Robert King, special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, to secure Bae's release. It's "premature" to talk about the North's decision and also not appropriate to answer a "hypothetical" question, he said. Bae, a 45-year-old Christian missionary, was arrested in the North in November 2012 while leading a group of tourists. The North later announced that he was sentenced to 15 years of compulsory labor for a crime against the state.