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
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