Richardson: Korea in a "Tinderbox"
BBC reports:
An unofficial US envoy visiting North Korea has warned that the situation on the peninsula is a "tinderbox".
The envoy, Bill Richardson, made the comments after talks with officials in Pyongyang, whom he asked to exercise "extreme restraint".
He said he had urged them to let South Korea go ahead with planned live-firing exercises on an island which was shelled by the North last month.
Pyongyang has been threatening to strike back if the drill goes ahead.
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is visiting Pyongyang in a private capacity, but he has in the past acted as a go-between with North Korea - with whom the US has no formal diplomatic ties.
He told CNN he had made "a little headway" in his talks with North Korean officials.
"I am urging them extreme restraint... Let's cool things down. No response. Let the exercises take place," he said.
"My sense from the North Koreans is they are trying to find ways to tamp this down. Maybe that will continue today, that's my hope," he said.
