Washington regrets Kim 's cancellation of visit to U.S.

A government official observed on Wednesday (Korean Standard Time) that a momentary worsening of North Korea-United States relations would be inevitable, commenting on the cancellation of the scheduled talks between President Kim Dae-Jung, now visiting New York, and Kim Yong-Nam, chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People`s Assembly.

The U.S. government also expressed regrets over the incident and ensured through diplomatic channels that it would prevent similar cases from recurring, proposing that the sides make joint efforts to find ways to prevent such unhappy circumstances. White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said in a regular briefing that "it is certainly an unfortunate incident we regret`` in view of the U.S. expectation that a North Korean delegation would participate in the Millennium Summit.

A U.S. State Department official also said that as North Korea protested to the department, it delivered the U.S. government`s regret. However, he said that the incident took place in the course of a civil airline company`s search and had nothing to do with the government, indicating that the government would not make an apology.

In the meantime, North Korea claimed through a press conference with its U.N. Ambassador, Lee Hyong-Chul, that the incident was part of a brazen-faced U.S. plot to oppose the trend of positive improvements in relations between South and North Korea, and warned it would counter the design strongly.

Earlier, Chairman Kim Yong-Nam and his party, who cancelled their trip to the U.S. on the grounds that they were rudely searched by U.S. American Airlines agents at Frankfurt Airport in Germany, returned on Wednesday to Pyongyang via Beijing on board a North Korean Koryo Air chartered plane.