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DATE=8/30/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=N. KOREA - U-S
NUMBER=2-253250
BYLINE=HYUN-SUNG KHANG
DATELINE=SEOUL
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO:  A U-S Congressman says North Korea is 
prepared to respond positively if Washington 
lifts economic sanctions. Representative Tony 
Hall was speaking after a four day visit to the 
reclusive state.  As Hyun-Sung Khang reports from 
the South Korean capital, Seoul, Mr. Hall's trip 
comes during a diplomatic campaign by the United 
States and its East Asian allies, to dissuade 
North Korea from test-firing a ballistic 
missile.
TEXT:  Representative Tony Hall says he remains 
cautiously optimistic following his visit 
to North Korea.  Mr. Hall says the country's 
Vice-Foreign Minister, Kim Kye-Gwan, told him 
that North Korea is ready to respond with "good 
faith," if Washington lifts economic sanctions 
against the famine-stricken country.  Mr. Hall 
says the Vice-Minister added that the sanctions 
have driven North Korea into a corner and the 
country will not sit idle and starve.
Mr. Hall says he urged Mr. Kim  not  to 
jeopardize the progress the two countries have 
made in improving relations, by test-firing a 
missile.  Pyongyang is widely believed to be 
preparing to launch a new long-range ballistic 
missile, but the U-S Congressman quotes Mr. Kim 
as saying that North Korea never said it would do 
so.
North Korean and U-S officials are due to meet 
next week, in Berlin and Mr. Hall describes the 
forthcoming meeting as a tremendous opportunity, 
adding Pyongyang also has high expectations for 
the talks.
Mr. Hall, who heads the Democratic Party's Task 
Force on Hunger, has made five visits to North 
Korea in the past three years, during which he 
has monitored the food situation there.
Mr. Hall called for the continuation of 
humanitarian aid. 
            ///ACT HALL ///
      I am encouraged that our food aid is making 
      a difference. And as I see the lives that 
      are being saved, I can't help but believe 
      that we should never hold back food. 
            ///END ACT ///
Mr. Hall adds international assistance, targeted 
at the most vulnerable sections of society, has 
stabilized the food crisis.  But he says hunger 
still plagues the overwhelming majority of North 
Koreans
North Korea has suffered successive years of 
famine brought about by floods, droughts and an 
inefficient agricultural system. 
NEB/HSK/FC/KL 
30-Aug-1999 07:58 AM EDT (30-Aug-1999 1158 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.