N. Korea says senior diplomat in New York received blackmail letter

SEOUL, Nov. 5 (Yonhap) -- A North Korean ambassadorial rank diplomat in New York received a blackmail letter threatening his personal security earlier this year, the North's mission to the U.N. was quoted as saying in a recent U.N. report.

During the 293rd meeting of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country held in June, the representative of the North said an unidentified man dropped off a "small package" at the apartment of a senior member of the mission with ambassadorial rank in April.

"The package had contained a blackmail letter, two small bottles allegedly containing alcohol, and three pictures of a parking garage used by the senior official, which was marked with an X in chalk," according to the Report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country submitted for the 74th session of the U.N. General Assembly.

The letter demanded that the official "cooperate with a certain organization through a secret contact," warning that failure would mean "his personal security would be at risk," it said.

The North said the U.S., as the host country, should be held accountable for any potential consequences arising from the incident, but the New York Police Department and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation concluded after an investigation, "There was no current threat" to the North Korean mission on the basis of the incident.

North Korea lashed out at the U.S. for lacking "sincerity" in the investigation and claimed that such attitude shows that the U.S. was behind the incident, according to the report.

scaaet@yna.co.kr
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