Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=10-27-2000

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-268538

TITLE=CLINTON / NORTH KOREA (L)

BYLINE=DAVID GOLLUST

DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: President Clinton says he has not yet decided whether to pay an unprecedented visit to North Korea before leaving office. But he says considerable progress has been made in thawing relations with Pyongyang and easing tensions on the Korean peninsula. V-O-A's David Gollust reports from the White House.

TEXT: A possible Clinton stop in Pyongyang was on the agenda of Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's ground-breaking talks there with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il earlier this week.

But there has been no announcement thus far. And in an impromptu news conference, Mr. Clinton indicated the matter could hinge on further talks with North Korea on its long-range missile program, which the United States wants shelved:

/// CLINTON ACTUALITY 1 ///

We are a long, long way in the right direction compared to where we were in January of '93. But we still have substantial concerns in the missile area as you pointed out. We're working on it. And that's all I think I should say now. We're working on it. And I haven't made a decision on the trip.

/// END ACT ////

U-S officials say missile experts of the two sides are to meet next week at a still-undisclosed location to continue the dialogue. Secretary Albright said earlier in the week that North Korea had accepted the "idea" of a deal under which it would end its missile program but said much work remained to be done.

A Clinton visit to the rigidly Stalinist country - which the United States had until only recently shunned as a "rogue state" - would be controversial.

And in his comments here the president outlined the progress his administration has made over the years in moderating North Korean behavior - starting with the 1994 framework agreement under which Pyongyang shut down two nuclear reactors believed part of a covert weapons program.

He also stressed that the effort has been in close coordination with U-S ally South Korea and its President Kim Dae-Jung, whose historic visit to Pyongyang last June greatly accelerated the diplomatic process:

/// CLINTON ACT 2 ///

We refused to have an independent relationship, except on arms-control issues, in the absence of some improving relationship between North and South. The present President, Kim Dae-Jung, gets elected in South Korea, breaks this long icy relationship, justifiably wins the Nobel Peace Prize. I was elated for him. Then they come here, we go there.

/// END ACT ///

The official widely considered the number-two man in the North Korean hierarchy, Cho Myong-Nok, paid a visit to Washington three weeks ago.

A Clinton visit to North Korea, if it comes, could be part of the Asia trip he is to begin November 11th and which already includes the first presidential visit to Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam war 25 years ago. (Signed)

NEB/DAG/JWH