Albright received an invitation from North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's deputy, Vice Marshal Jo Myong Rok, who has been visiting the United States since Tuesday. She disclosed the trip in a toast at a Washington dinner hosted by Jo after the two held historic talks searching for ways to end five decades of hostility.
"I will have more to say about that tomorrow, but I would like to say how much I look forward to visiting your country and meeting with Chairman Kim Jong Il," Albright said in remarks at the dinner that were released by the State Department.
"That visit will allow for further discussions on regional security issues and other matters of mutual concern," she said, describing the current state of bilateral relations between the United States and North Korea as "rich with opportunity."
Some members of Congress and former Defense Secretary William Perry have made trips to North Korea leading up to the current thaw in relations.
Writing 'a new chapter'
"There is nothing inevitable about the tensions between our two countries or on the Korean peninsula or in the region," Albright said in her comments at the dinner. "We have a chance now, together, to write a new chapter in history for the benefit of our society" and neighbors throughout the region, she added.
Upon hearing Albright's toast to "peace and mutual security between our two countries," Jo stood, applauding, and raised his glass.
The dinner came on the second day of a groundbreaking visit by Jo, the highest ranking North Korean ever to visit Washington.
During four hours of intensive, detailed talks, Jo, deputy to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, met at the State Department with Albright and Ambassador Wendy Sherman, coordinator of U.S. policy toward North Korea, one of the world's few remaining communist countries.
Jo, who had met with U.S. President Bill Clinton the day before, went to the Pentagon on Wednesday for an hour-long meeting with Defense Secretary William Cohen and top military officials.
Missiles, MIAs top agenda
Chief among the topics in discussions with Cohen was Washington's desire for North Korea to abandon its program of developing and exporting ballistic missiles and to lessen its military buildup along the Demilitarized Zone that has separated North and South Korea since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
Also on the agenda was the Pentagon's bid to expand its search in North Korea for the remains of U.S. servicemen killed in the war. Teams of U.S. forensics experts have recovered 35 sets of remains in North Korea so far this year, but North Korea has not agreed to extend the work beyond November.
"I'm optimistic," Robert Jones, the Pentagon's chief of POW/MIA affairs, said before Wednesday's talks.
Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said Cohen gave Jo a brief tour of the Pentagon, which did not include any of the secure areas of the building.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher described Wednesday's talks as productive, but he was reluctant to discuss specifics, including details of a letter Jo delivered to Clinton on behalf of Kim, whose father, Kim Il Sung, founded North Korea in 1945.
"We continue on both sides to look forward to ways to end the hostility between our two nations and to develop a better relationship," Boucher said, adding that he expected to say more after Jo leaves on Thursday.
U.S. officials hope Jo's visit will promote reconciliation between Pyongyang and Seoul following the historic summit in June between Kim Jong Il and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung.
Washington also hopes to make progress toward persuading North Korea to declare a permanent halt to its ballistic missile program and to work its way off a U.S. list of "state sponsors of terrorism."
Last week, the two countries released a joint statement agreeing that they opposed terrorism and would cooperate against it by exchanging information.
But Boucher said of the statement: "It's not the solution yet. ... They know quite clearly what needs to be done, and we'll tell you if they get there."
A senior administration official told CNN Wednesday the United States does not believe Pyongyang is ready to renounce terrorism.
The North Koreans are eager to get sanctions lifted in order to become eligible for international loans from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
"We have made quite clear what we think needs to be done for them to get off the terrorism list," said Boucher. "We're happy to discuss that with them and work with them on that, but it's up to them when and how they do those things."
Privately, U.S. officials conceded they do not believe North Korea is still actively supporting acts of terrorism. However, they said, for the North to be removed from the list of countries that support terrorism, there are a couple things they must do.
The North must publicly renounce support for terrorism and expel a number of Japanese Red Army members who have been hiding in North Korea for years.
In the 1999 Patterns of Global Terrorism report, the State Department said, "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) continued to provide safe haven to the Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction members who participated in the hijacking of a Japanese Airlines flight to North Korea in 1970."
The report also said that "in 1999 the DPRK also attempted to kidnap in Thailand a North Korean diplomat who had defected the day before."
Finally, the report adds, the U.S. government has "some evidence (that) suggests the DPRK in 1999 may have sold weapons directly or indirectly to terrorist groups."
Hostility and suspicion
On Tuesday, Jo said developments on the Korean peninsula, including the June summit, "clearly indicate the possibility of such dramatic changes" in relations.
He said Kim Jong Il would "certainly make a very important political decision to turn the current bilateral relations of confrontation and hostility into the new relationship of friendship and cooperation and good will."
But that would happen if and when Pyongyang received concrete security assurances about its sovereignty and territorial integrity, he added.
CNN Military Affairs Correspondent Jamie McIntyre, CNN State Department Correspondent Andrea Koppel, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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