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DATE=7/23/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=N. KOREA - U-S MEETING (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-264709
BYLINE=HYUN-SUNG KHANG
DATELINE=SEOUL
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
TEXT:  North Korea says the country's Foreign Minister 
and the U-S secretary of State will hold talks next 
week in Bangkok.  The meeting will take place ahead of 
a regional forum in Thailand and will mark the 
highest-level contact ever 
between the two countries. From the South Korean 
capital, Hyun-Sung Khang reports.
TEXT:  North Korea's Central News Agency, says Foreign 
Minister Paek Nam-Sun will meet Secretary of State 
Madeleine Albright on Wednesday, to 
discuss issues related to bilateral relations.  The 
meeting will take place just before the beginning of 
the Association of Southeast Asian 
Nations Regional Forum due to start in Bangkok on 
Thursday.
Talks between Pyongyang and Washington over North 
Korea's missile program, stalled less than a month 
ago; with Pyongyang demanding a billion dollars a year 
in return for halting missile development.
Washington points to countries like North Korea, as 
one of the reasons for its proposed National Missile 
Defense Shield.  Pyongyang shocked the region by 
firing a missile over Japan less than two years ago.
But an editorial published in North Korea's official 
newspaper, (Sunday), repeated a long-standing 
accusation by Pyongyang, that the United States was 
trying to gain military supremacy with the missile 
shield.
Last week, following a state visit to Pyongyang, the 
Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, said North Korea was 
prepared to halt its missile program in 
return for space technology.  But the announcement has 
been met with skepticism in Washington.
The meeting between the North Korean Foreign Minister 
and U-S Secretary of State, comes as Pyongyang shows 
increasing signs of wanting to shake off its 
isolationist past and engage with the outside world.  
During his stay in 
Bangkok, the North Korean Foreign Minister is also 
scheduled to hold discussions with his counterparts 
from Japan and South Korea.  These 
meetings will represent some of the highest level 
contacts between North Korea and the international 
community, in years. (Signed)
NEB/HSK/PLM
23-Jul-2000 07:04 AM EDT (23-Jul-2000 1104 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.