Albright to North Korea: Come in from the cold

Jo meets with Clinton during landmark U.S. visit

In this story: No breakthrough predicted Wave of foreign ties RELATED STORIES, SITES

WASHINGTON -- North Korea's second-ranking official, on a landmark visit to the United States, was asked Tuesday to urge his country to come in from the chill of the Cold War.

"In most of the world, the Cold War ended a decade ago. On the North Korean peninsula, it lingered," U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told Vice Marshal Jo Myong Rok at a dinner attended by ambassadors and diplomats from several states, including Russia, China and South Korea.

Jo earlier met President Bill Clinton for the highest-level talks ever between the two countries, enemies in the 1950-53 Korean War.

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During the meeting, Jo gave Clinton a letter from President Kim Jong Il acknowledging what an "important point" the U.S.-North Korean relationship has reached, according to Wendy Sherman, U.S. special adviser on North Korea.

Sherman also said Jo described some ideas that Kim has for improving ties between the two countries.

Sherman called the meeting "frank, direct and warm," but added that the session was "not a negotiating meeting" but rather "an excellent start" to a series of meetings Jo will have over the next few days in Washington.

"President Clinton reviewed the range of concerns that the United States has in a very appropriate summary fashion for this kind of an introductory meeting and urged that we work hard over the next two days to continue to build on the progress that we have made in previous negotiations and meetings," Sherman said.

No breakthrough predicted

Jo met not only Clinton but also a series of administration officials Tuesday, aiming to improve bilateral relations with the United States and the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. On Tuesday he will again meet Albright and Sherman, as well as Defense Secretary William Cohen.

In her remarks at the dinner for Jo's delegation, Albright added, "What has frozen can thaw and what has been contested ground can, over time, become common ground."

While neither side has predicted a breakthrough will arise from Jo's visit, U.S. officials say they hope to begin what they expect to be an arduous process of getting Pyongyang to halt proliferation of its missile program. In particular, they are looking to explore an offer Kim reportedly made to Russian President Vladimir Putin to scrap its missile program in exchange for space satellite technology.

On the North's part, Jo was expected to press for North Korea's removal from the State Department's list of states that sponsor terrorism. North Korea's support for the Japanese Red Army, and in particular its practice of providing safe haven for some of the members, remains the primary obstacle to its removal from the list.

Last week the United States and North Korea issued a joint statement pledging cooperation on fighting international terrorism. According to the statement, North Korea affirmed that "it opposes all forms of terrorism against any individual," and that it is the "responsibility of every U.N. member state" to refrain from supporting terrorists, "including [giving them] safe haven."

Wave of foreign ties

The Korean peninsula was divided after World War II along Cold War lines into a Stalinist North and a U.S.-allied South, which still plays host to 37,000 U.S. troops.

The United States has maintained a presence in the South since the Korean War, which pitted the North, backed by China, against the South, backed by a U.N. force.

That conflict ended in a cease-fire rather than an actual treaty, leaving the two countries technically still at war, and Washington and Pyongyang have never formed diplomatic ties.

But recent diplomatic overtures by impoverished North Korea have sparked an unprecedented wave of foreign contacts.

Albright said there is "no doubt" solutions could be found to security, political and economic differences between the impoverished North, with its secretive leadership, controlled economy and persistent famines, and market-driven South Korea.

"The United States is fully committed to this quest. Vice Marshal Jo's presence here this week is an important and positive expression of Pyongyang's intentions," she said.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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September 29, 2000

U.S. State Department
Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)
Korean Information Service
South Korean government
North Korea: Politics and Government
North Korea
UniKorea

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