Top UN envoy to North Korea loses post
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-07-19 09:10

A Canadian businessman lost his job as the top U.N. envoy to North Korea amid questions about his connection to a suspect in the U.N. oil-for-food scandal, the world body said Monday.

The decision not to renew Maurice Strong's contract follows criticism that he gave his stepdaughter a job at the United Nations and concerns over his ties to a South Korean businessman accused of accepting kickbacks from Saddam Hussein's government.

Deputy U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe said in response to a question that Strong's contract expired last week "and it has not been renewed." She said later "if he is cleared of any involvement in the oil-for-food program, the secretary-general will consider availing himself of Mr. Strong's expertise on an informal basis."

Strong, 76, denied that he had been terminated, saying he told Secretary-General Kofi Annan when his contract was renewed for six months in January that he did not want another extension because "I'm at an age and stage where I can't go on forever."

"As arranged long before any of these other questions had arisen, my understanding was that I would complete my assignment and would continue to be available to provide any further advice, but could not continue in the more operational role that I had had," he said in a telephone interview from his base in Canada.

Strong, who had been the U.N. point man on six-nation talks aimed at persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons programs, took temporary leave from his part-time post on April 20 during a probe of his ties to businessman Tongsun Park.

The next day his stepdaughter, Christina Mayo, resigned after a U.N. review discovered that she had worked at the United Nations for her stepfather for two years. U.N. staff regulations in most cases prohibit the hiring of immediate family members.

Park, a native of North Korea and citizen of South Korea, was charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office in April with allegedly accepting millions of dollars from Saddam's government to lobby illegally for Iraq in the United States on behalf of the oil-for-food program.

Strong said Park had advised him on Korean issues, but he again denied any involvement with the $64 billion humanitarian program in Iraq. He has pledged to cooperate with an oil-for-food probe led by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker who is expected to issue three more reports by the end of September.

Prosecutors say Park met with an unidentified U.N. official in an apparent effort to influence the design of the oil-for-food program and invested $1 million in a company run by the official's son. Strong acknowledged that Park invested money in an oil company, Cordex Petroleum, in which he and his family had a significant interest.

Strong had been involved in U.N. environment and development issues since 1970 and in January 1997 was appointed a senior adviser to Annan on reforming the United Nations.

He said he started monitoring North Korea in 1998 and about 2 1/2 years ago Annan asked him to become more active because of the nuclear weapons issue and "the very acute humanitarian problems" caused by food shortages.

"So I took that on, and it's gone on a good deal longer than expected," Strong said.

"What's been done, not necessarily by me, helped provide the foundations for the economic and energy components that will be essential to a peaceful settlement. That work will continue through U.N. normal channels," he said.

"I'm going to be continuing to work on Korea and make my advice available as it may be useful to the U.N.," Strong said.

North Korea said last week it would end its 13-month boycott of disarmament negotiations after being assured by a U.S. envoy that Washington respects Pyongyang's sovereignty. The six-nation nuclear talks, set to reconvene next week in Beijing, also include China, Japan, Russia and South Korea.

"That's good news," Strong said of the upcoming talks. "It'll be better news when the talks become real negotiations ... It still has a long way to go, but it looks like the process is moving again."

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