A special U.S. envoy may visit North Korea as early as next week to discuss the release of detained Korean American, Kenneth Bae.
 
The Choson Sinbo, a pro-North Korea newspaper based in Japan, held an exclusive interview with Bae on Saturday.
 
Bae told the daily U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues Robert King will visit the North on Monday or later this month. Bae said he got such information through an official of the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang.
 
The newspaper said it held the interview after Bae met with a Swedish Embassy official for 20 minutes.
 
State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters in Washington that the U.S. has long offered to send King to North Korea for Bae’s release. She said its position has not changed.
 
Bae was arrested in North Korea in November 2012 while leading a foreign tour group into the North's Rajin city in North Hamgyeong Province. He was convicted in April of committing hostile acts against North Korea and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.