DATE=3/28/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUNDER
TITLE=NORTH KOREA DIPLOMACY
NUMBER=5-46033
BYLINE=AMY BICKERS
DATELINE=TOKYO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Italy's Foreign Minister is to wrap up a two day
visit to North Korea Wednesday, as the reclusive state
continues it efforts to broaden its international contacts.
As Amy Bickers reports from Tokyo, the government in
Pyongyang has recently engaged several other nations in
diplomatic discussions, as well.
TEXT: Italian Foreign Minster Lamberto Dini's visit is seen
as a landmark event for North Korea. During his the two-day
visit to the Stalinist state, he is meeting with his
counterpart in Pyongyang, as well as other top officials.
The two countries forged diplomatic ties in January, making
Italy the first of the Group of Seven nations to establish
relations with North Korea's hermit government. Analysts
say the newly-formed relationship is part of a recent
flurry of diplomatic activity on the part of North Korea,
intended to encourage outside aid to help improve
conditions in the famine-stricken nation. They note the
demise of the Soviet bloc has led to looser ties with its
former cold war allies and the need to for Pyongyang to
find other partners for trade and assistance.
Analyst David O'Rear, of the Economist Intelligence Unit in
Hong Kong, says the Italian Foreign Minister's visit also
reflects the North's desire to improve its standing with
European nations.
/// O'REAR ACT ///
It would seem there is a general effort to open up and
improve diplomatic relations. Whether it has some broader
implication is impossible to say, but it is a pattern that
has developed in a short amount of time.
/// END ACT ///
North Korea has also reopened long-dormant diplomatic
discussions with Japan and Australia. Next Tuesday,
negotiators from Tokyo and Pyongyang will hold the first
full-scale talks in more than seven years on normalizing
relations.
Diplomats say North Korea has discreetly hinted to Canada
and Britain that it would be interested in holding talks.
It has also signed a treaty of friendship with Russia.
According to some diplomats, the thaw in North Korea's
chilly international relations indicates that the country's
leaders believe they have consolidated power in the years
since the 1994 death of the dictator Kim Il Sung.
Others credit Pyongyang's more friendly demeanor, in part,
to upcoming elections in South Korea and the United States.
They say the communist state does not want its weapons
programs and frequent belligerent stance to become campaign
issues. (SIGNED)
NEB/AB/FC
29-Mar-2000 05:58 AM EDT (29-Mar-2000 1058 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
