Experts also said it would dramatically complicate efforts to negotiate the release of two American citizens detained by North Korea. "This decision is especially bad for the detained Americans as the negotiations for these cases often used the New York channel." "We are entering such a period without the New York channel open to keep things from boiling over." Last week, the US slapped economic sanctions on about 10 North Korean officials and - for the first time - leader Kim Jong Un, for what US officials called "notorious abuses of human rights". There are about 28,500 US troops based in South Korea.

Source: New Zealand Herald July 11, 2016 21:22 UTC