DATE=7/19/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=PUTIN / NORTH KOREA - L
NUMBER=2-264564
BYLINE=HYUN SUNG KHANG
DATELINE=SEOUL
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in
the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, following a state
visit to Beijing. Russia, China and North Korea are
united in their criticism of the proposed US National
Missile Defense system. As Hyun-Sung Khang reports
from Seoul, security issues are high on Mr. Putin's
agenda during his stay in Pyongyang.
TEXT: The Russian leader was met at the airport by the
North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, and a full honor
guard. This is the first ever visit to North Korea by
a Russian head of state.
The two leaders are expected to discuss the issue,
which dominated Mr. Putin's Beijing visit: namely the
proposed US National Missile Defense system, or NMD.
Just hours before Mr. Putin's arrival, North Korea's
state-controlled media denounced the US missile shield
plan and said it was an attempt by the United States
to have unchallenged military supremacy in the Pacific
region.
Washington argues it needs a shield to protect itself
from what it calls rogue states -- including North
Korea.
Analysts suggest President Putin intends to try to
broker an agreement to reduce the threat from
Pyongyang's missile program. Professor Lee Chung Hoo,
of Seoul's Yonsei University, says this would
strengthen the Russian argument against
NMD, when he meets other heads of state at the G-8
summit of major industrialized nations later this week
in Japan.
/// LEE ACT ///
Putin will try to get some sort of understanding or
agreement with Kim Jong IL on his weapons of mass
destruction, missiles. And if he is able to
deliver and say at G-8, "I have talked to Kim Jong Il
and he has said he is not going to develop missiles
beyond a certain range," then I think this will
significantly undermine the US argument that its NMD
is being built as a preemptive measure against rogue
states such as North Korea.
/// END ACT ///
Moscow and Pyongyang had been long-time allies, but
relations between them cooled following the end of the
Cold War. The Russian president now seems intent on
bolstering the relationship and reasserting Russian
influence in the region. (signed)
NEB/HK/HSK/JO
19-Jul-2000 04:43 AM EDT (19-Jul-2000 0843 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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