Clinton may visit North Korea if relations with U.S. improve

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright

From CNN's Mike Chinoy

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Thursday that President Bill Clinton may visit North Korea as part of the intensified effort to improve ties with that country.

A joint communique issued after two days of historic meetings between North Korea and the United States in Washington states that the two nations will work to oppose state-sponsored terrorism and improve relations.

Albright, who is planning to visit the Stalinist nation by the end of the month, said at a news conference Thursday that the president's visit is contingent on progress continuing to be made on key sticking points.

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The communique was issued after two days of talks with Jo Myong Rok, first vice marshal of North Korea's National Defense Commission and leader Kim Jong Il's deputy. Jo has been visiting the United States since Tuesday.

The final paragraph of the communique raises the possibility of a visit by Clinton to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. Such a visit would be without precedent for an American president and would have been considered inconceivable just a few months ago.

"It was agreed that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will visit the DPRK (North Korea) in the near future to convey the views of U.S. President William Clinton ... and to prepare for a possible visit by the president of the United States," the communique says.

"He hopes to go," Albright said of Clinton. "We are going to work very hard to make it possible."

Jo's visit to Washington included talks with Clinton, Albright and U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen.

The communique says the two sides "have decided to take steps to fundamentally improve their bilateral relations in the interests of enhancing peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region."

Although Albright said the nations have agreed to work toward opposing terrorism, she offered no details on any agreement. North Korean state television, however, reported Thursday that North Korea had agreed in the statement to oppose state-sponsored terrorism.

North Korea is currently on a U.S. State Department list of nations that support international terrorism. The status prevents, among other things, the United States from supporting North Korea's "membership in multinational financial sources," a State Department spokeswoman said at the news conference in which Albright spoke.

The issue of terrorism has been one of the critical questions dividing the United States and North Korea, especially because North Korea continues to harbor Japanese Red Army hijackers who flew a plane from Tokyo to Pyongyang in 1970.

"Our two countries are moving in a positive direction. And we're on the right road. But as both sides recognize, we still have far to go. Accordingly, the government of North Korea has invited me to visit Pyongyang in the near future. And I have accepted," Albright said on Thursday. "The purpose of my trip will be to explore opportunities for further progress on a range of regional and bilateral issues."

The communique, according to the North Korean state TV broadcast, says that as long as negotiations continue on the issue of North Korea's missile program, Pyongyang will maintain its freeze on missile launches. The communique also reaffirms the agreed framework of 1994 under which Pyongyang froze its nuclear program.

The communique says the two sides will also agree to explore economic cooperation by exchanging economic delegations in the coming months, the TV report said.

Korean TV said that, in the joint statement, the United States thanked North Korea for continuing to search for the remains of Americans missing in action since the Korean War and North Korea thanked the United States for its humanitarian and medical aid during the recent years of food shortages in North Korea.

CNN Correspondent Mike Chinoy and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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