U.S. says no promises to North Korea for freeing journalists

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration insisted on Tuesday it had not offered any concessions to North Korea in its nuclear standoff with the West in return for its release of two American journalists to former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

But a senior U.S. official said, without providing specifics, that Clinton did talk to North Korea's leadership about the "positive things that could flow" from freeing the two women who had been held by Pyongyang since March.

Clinton's visit marked the highest-level U.S. contact with North Korea since he was president nearly a decade ago, but aides to President Barack Obama brushed aside suggestions that it had opened a new diplomatic channel to Pyongyang.

Analysts warned that Obama, in office since January, faced a risky task of trying to convince the impoverished state to give up dreams of becoming a nuclear weapons power without being seen as rewarding it for repeated military provocations.

Obama called the families of Laura Ling and Euna Lee to express relief at their release. But the administration official also warned Pyongyang of deeper isolation if it continued defying international demands over its nuclear and missile programs.

"We made clear in every communication we had with the North Koreans, and President Clinton made clear in all his conversations, that this was a purely private humanitarian mission," the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters, after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il granted the journalists pardons and allowed them to leave with Clinton.

He said their release was "completely separate from issues between North Korea and the international community."

But the official acknowledged, "I'm sure President Clinton gave President Kim his views on denuclearization."

NORTH KOREAN ASSURANCES

North Korea had requested Clinton's visit and the Obama administration granted its approval only after Pyongyang provided assurances the journalists would be freed and there would be no link to the nuclear issue, the official said.

The U.S. official said Washington would keep up its efforts to enforce international sanctions imposed on North Korea over its nuclear defiance.

"The North Koreans have two paths," the official said.

He warned that continued "provocative behavior" would lead to further international isolation of Pyongyang but said it also had the choice of returning to suspended six-party talks on its nuclear disarmament.

Washington, keen to avoid any suggestion it was making official overtures to Kim after recent nuclear and missile tests, insisted the meeting was a private one by Clinton and denied North Korea's claim he had brought a message from Obama or offered a U.S. apology.

But despite earlier attempts to keep a distance from Clinton's mission, the official acknowledged that the former president had been briefed in advance by members of Obama's national security team.

North Korea last year quit five years of on-and-off negotiations with the United States, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea and has since suggested it will only talk with Washington.

(Additional reporting by JoAnne Allen, editing by Vicki Allen)