19 June 2000
Transcript: June 19 Interview of Albright on Diane Rehm Show
(Discusses wide range of foreign policy issues) (7300)
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright discussed a wide range of
foreign policy topics June 19 in a lengthy interview on the Diane Rehm
radio show.
Following is the transcript:
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
June 19, 2000
INTERVIEW
OF
SECRETARY OF STATE MADELEINE K. ALBRIGHT
ON
THE DIANE REHM SHOW - WAMU - FM
June 19, 2000
Washington, D.C.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
MS. REHM: Let's talk about the tone of last week's summit between
North and South Korea's leaders. How much is US foreign policy toward
North Korea going to shift if relations between these two countries
improves?
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Well, first of all, I think we have to understand
what happened. It was a historic summit; there's no question about it.
And seeing these two leaders shake hands and deal with each other is
really remarkable. I've been to the demilitarized zone between North
and South Korea, and I've always described it kind of as being the
other side of the moon. And it's very stark and there is propaganda
music coming from the North. And, I mean, there's no way, truly,
Diane, to tell you; it's the last vestiges of the Cold War.
So to see these two meet really was historic. We have wanted to see a
peaceful and denuclearized Korean Peninsula -- that has been our goal
-- and stability. So that's why we think this is a good idea. We do
continue to have concerns, obviously, about North Korea's missile
capability and to make sure that their nuclear program continues to be
curtailed. And those issues are -- the South Koreans also agree with
that.
So we have to see how it all evolves. I am going -- leaving tomorrow
on a trip to go to Korea and then to China, and then to Poland --
everybody goes to Poland via China -- and then to the Middle East. But
I will have a chance to talk more to the South Koreans about what
happened. And their national security advisor was here last week and
he briefed President Clinton and me on how that summit had gone.
MS. REHM: Well, you know, the US has called North Korea a rogue state.
Is its leader, Kim Jung-il, a rogue leader?
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Well, first of all, we are now calling these
states "states of concern" because we are concerned about their
support for terrorist activity, their development of missiles, their
desire to disrupt the international system. They remain -- North Korea
remains on the terrorist list, and we are going to really be looking
at how this relationship develops.
Things don't change overnight, Diane. This is clearly an important
development. We want to see how the North-South relationship evolves
from the statements that they signed. We have to make sure that North
Korea is not a threat.
But one thing that has happened, we agreed in September of last year
to ease the sanctions, and they are being eased. We have an
announcement now in the Federal Register for consumer goods to go in.
Nothing that can be used for strategic purposes or dual use. And some
American business men are looking at some small investment deals, so
there's a possibility here of change, but it's not going to happen
overnight.
.................
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