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DATE=10-6-2000

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-267590

TITLE=Clinton-Korea (L)

BYLINE=David Gollust

DATELINE=White House

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: President Clinton is expressing cautious optimism about the Washington visit next week by the chairman of North Korea's National Defense Commission, Cho Myong-nok. Mr. Cho described as second-in-command in the hierarchy in Pongyang will become the highest-ranking North Korean official ever to meet with a U-S president. VOA's David Gollust reports from the White House.

TEXT: The meeting with Mr. Cho, scheduled for Tuesday, is one of the most politically sensitive Mr. Clinton has held in his nearly eight years in office. And at a White House news conference, Mr. Clinton stressed that the overture has been carefully coordinated with South Korea and Japan, and is also strongly supported by China.

Mr. Cho is considered the right-hand man to North Korean President Kim Jong-Il, whose unprecedented summit meeting with South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung in June of this year underlined what has been a rapid easing of tensions on the Korean peninsula.

But there continue to be problem issues including North Korea's efforts to develop long-range missiles, its exports of missile technology, and past involvement in acts of terrorism.

Questioned about his expectations for the meeting, Mr. Clinton said he is optimistic, though it remains to be seen how far Pyongyang is willing to go to address U-S concerns:

///Clinton actuality///

On balance, this is a big plus. I will explore what the possibilities are and consider what actions they're willing to take, what actions we should take, consistent not only with our own interests but with those of South Korea and our other friends in the region.

///end act///

Mr. Clinton welcomed what he said were positive contributions by the presidents of both Koreas and said U-S-North Korean reconcilation -- after nearly 50 years of hostility dating back to the Korean war -- would be a good thing for all those concerned.

Mr. Clinton spoke shortly after the State Department made public a joint U.S.-North Korean statement in which Pyongyang said it opposes all forms of terrorism, and believes that U-N member states should refrain from any association with such activity.

North Korea remains on a U-S list of countries supporting international terrorism based on a number of past incidents including a 1983 bomb attack on South Korean cabinet members in Burma, and the mid-air bombing of a South Korean airliner four years later.

Pyongyang has been pressing to be removed from the terrorist list, which effectively bars it from international loans and U-S aid for anything other than humanitarian purposes.

Groundwork for Mr. Cho's visit was laid in a series of meetings between U-S diplomats and North Korean officials accredited to the United Nations in New York, since the two countries have no formal diplomatic relations.

In addition to the talks with Mr. Clinton, the North Korean official will also meet Defense Secretary William Cohen during his three-day Washington visit and attend a dinner hosted by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. (Signed)

NEB/DAG/PT