DATE=8/25/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=HALL - N. KOREA (L-ONLY) (CQ)
NUMBER=2-253109
BYLINE=STEVE HERMAN
DATELINE=TOKYO
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
// Re-issuing to correct first sentence of intro: Rep.
Hall is making his fifth trip to North Korea, sted
sixth as originally sent //
INTRO: A member of the U-S Congress is on the eve of
an unprecedented fifth trip to North Korea.
Representative Tony Hall has admonished Tokyo for its
refusal to provide humanitarian aid
to Pyongyang. Steve Herman reports from the Japanese
capital, the Congressman, who is a member of the
Democratic Party Task Force on Hunger, made a stop in
Japan en route to Pyongyang.
TEXT: U-S Representative Tony Hall's mission to North
Korea is billed as primarily humanitarian, but he says
he is going with a strong message to Pyongyang's
leadership about the implications of a new missile
launch. The North is reportedly preparing to test
launch a long-range missile, a move which has raised
security concerns in some countries in Asia and in the
United States.
Ohio's Representative Hall is one of the few elected
officials in the world who has been repeatedly allowed
into reclusive North Korea. He has painted a somber
picture of a nation
with insufficient food or medicine. He says on this
trip he expects to meet with North Korea's Vice
Foreign Minister, as he has in the past.
Speaking at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan,
Mr. Hall gave a preview of his stern message for
Pyongyang.
//HALL ACT //
"If they fire a missile over Japan, we're going to
respond, too. And you know that's one of
the messages, the very strong messages I intend to
give North Korea.
//END ACT//
But Representative Hall also told reporters the threat
of a possible missile test by North Korea should not
deter Japan from aiding that nation's starving people.
/// HALL ACT ///
Humanitarian aid should never be stopped, matter of
fact, Japan hasn't even started.
//END ACT //
Representative Hall says Japan has a tremendous
surplus of food which will cost millions of dollars to
store - food that he says could be utilized to feed
innocent civilians in North Korea who face a life and
death struggle.
The Congressman was asked why the Stalinist government
in North Korea continues to focus its resources on its
military instead of trying to solve its dire domestic
problems. Mr. Hall responded that he believes it is
very hard for North Korea to admit that its people are
dying and it cannot take care of them. (Signed)
NEB/SH/FC/PLM
25-Aug-1999 10:34 AM EDT (25-Aug-1999 1434 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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