DATE=7/28/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=US / NORTH KOREA (L)
NUMBER=2-264879
BYLINE=NICK SIMEONE
DATELINE=BANGKOK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The United States and North Korea have held
their highest level meeting in more than five decades.
U-S Secretary of State Madeleine Albright met in
Bangkok Friday with North Korean Foreign Minister Paek
Nam-Sun in what the United States is calling another
step in the communist country's emergence from decades
of isolation. But Correspondent Nick Simeone reports
Secretary Albright says she was not able to learn
anything more about a North Korean offer to end its
missile program.
TEXT: Secretary Albright's meeting with Foreign
Minister Paek lasted longer than expected. She left
reporters with the impression that it no doubt was a
step forward, but that she still has many more
questions about North Korea than answers.
/// ALBRIGHT ACT ///
My meeting today with Foreign Minister Paek
constitutes a substantively modest but
symbolically historic step away from the
sterility and hostility of the past and towards
a more direct and promising approach to
resolving differences and establishing common
ground.
/// END ACT ///
At the top of the list of U-S concerns are recent
statements North Korea made to Russia suggesting it
was willing to give up its missile program if other
countries would supply it with technology to conduct
peaceful space research. Secretary Albright says she
was unable to learn anything more about the offer and
a senior U-S official told reporters the United States
would continue to seek clarification.
In the past year, the United States has eased
longstanding sanctions against North Korea after
Pyongyang agreed to stop testing ballistic missiles.
But Washington remains so concerned about North
Korea's missile and nuclear intentions that President
Clinton is considering deploying a multi-billion
dollar missile shield to defend against a potential
attack from North Korea and what the United States
calls other rogue nations.
This historic U-S /North Korean meeting was just the
latest in a week of unprecedented diplomatic
initiatives by North Korea, which U-S officials see as
another sign Pyongyang may be ready to emerge from
decades of isolation.
/// ALBRIGHT ACT TWO ///
If anybody had told me that I would be shaking
hands with the Foreign Minister of the D-P-R-K
(North Korea) today, I would have been very
surprised and so I look forward to this
relationship moving forward on a considered and
careful step-by-step basis.
/// END ACT ///
Secretary Albright's meeting with her North Korean
counterpart comes just a month after the leaders of
North and South Korea held their first summit. It
also highlights what has been an unprecedented "coming
out" by the North on the sidelines of a Southeast
Asian regional security meeting here in Bangkok. In
just the past few days, North Korean Foreign Minister
Paek held his first ever meeting with his counterpart
from South Korea, received a promise of diplomatic
recognition from Canada and was welcomed into Asia's
largest security conference for the first time.
(SIGNED)
NEB/HK/NJS/JO/JP
28-Jul-2000 07:36 AM LOC (28-Jul-2000 1136 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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