Clinton Tough on North Korea on First Trip Abroad
EmailABC News’ Martha Raddatz reports: On her first flight abroad as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton told reporters that choosing Asia for her initial overseas foray demonstrated how indispensable Asia is to the "opportunities and challenges of the 21st century."
Clinton made several trips to the back of the plane to visit with reporters. She was upbeat and said she was looking forward to engaging on issues ranging from nuclear proliferation to the global economy.
While Clinton was en route to Tokyo, North Korea was threatening to fire a missile.
"The North Koreans have already agreed to dismantling," she said. "We expect them to fulfill the obligations that they entered into."
The secretary has warned North Korea "to avoid any provocative action and unhelpful rhetoric."
Clinton said her trip will demonstrate a new U.S. commitment to work with Asian leaders on "problems that no one nation, including ours, can deal with alone."
Clinton also promised to meet with families of Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korea in the 1970s and ’80s.
She said, "We do want to press the North Koreans to be more forthcoming with information."
The secretary’s first trip includes visits to Tokyo, Jakarta, Seoul, and Beijing.
"This region is indispensable to our efforts to seize the opportunities and meet the challenges of the 21st century," she told reporters while refueling in Alaska.
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Many countries expect much from the new US administration. At the eve of Clinton visit to Asia many Asia countries are putting on new faces, not necessary their daily ones. From Japan to China temporary change are being put together.
Japan has succeeded in arranging a meeting between the secretary of states and the families of people abducted by North Korean. I also wished that Clinton could meet the international community living in Japan.
Unlike what the Bush administration did, I strongly believe that the Obama administration should press N.Korea on the issue of abductees but also press Japan to improve their treatment of foreigners and minorities in this country.
Japan should also be pressed to explain to the international community why foreign students in high school are systematically prohibited from running the first stage of the annual marathons? Japan should also explain to the world the reason of the daily racial discrimination against foreigners, the daily racial profiling, unlawful surveillance and so forth. Many foreigners are not allowed promotion even after working for years in Japan for the only reason that they are not Japanese.
Amin
Posted by: saimen | February 16, 2009, 2:45 am 2:45 am
Every time Hillary makes some waves overseas the question will be raised; is she going rogue, or are views actually reflective of the Obama administration as a whole?
Posted by: matt | February 16, 2009, 7:39 am 7:39 am
It’s good to be the King.
—After pushing Congress for weeks to hurry up and pass the massive $787 billion stimulus bill, President Obama promptly took off for a three-day holiday getaway.
Obama arrived at his home in Chicago on Friday, and treated wife Michelle to a Valentine’s Day dinner downtown last night. The couple was spotted leaving upscale Table Fifty-Two, which specializes in Southern cuisine, with the first lady toting what appeared to be a doggie bag.
The president plans to spend the Presidents’ Day weekend in the Windy City, and is not expected to sign the bill until Tuesday, when he travels to Denver to discuss his economic plan.
Both the House and Senate passed the bill Friday night.
The push to get the bill through before the holiday weekend was so frantic, members of Congress didn’t have a chance to read all 1,071 pages of the document before they could vote.
“In a perfect world it would have been nice to have had more time to process it,” said Ilan Kayatsky, a spokesman for Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY).—
Yeah, in would have been nice to actually read and contemplate a ONE TRILLION DOLLAR GIVEAWAY before signing it!
Posted by: The Imperial Presidency | February 16, 2009, 8:58 am 8:58 am
every republican wants this president to fail and should all hang their heads in shame. Don’t they dare about the people that voted them in office, we are not all fat cats. What they earn in one month most of us don’t earn in a year. As for Hillary and her trip I hope she can start to repair what the last 8 years have done to this country in the eyes of the world. I certainly hope what Pakistan is doing isn ‘t going to hinder what is going on in Afghanistan
Posted by: Rose Szymanski | February 16, 2009, 6:49 pm 6:49 pm
In the eyes of the world we look weak because of the Democrats/Communists unfairly bashing the Bush Administration for the last 8 years. Now with Carter II in the White House, they smell cadaverine and are beginning to circle like the vultures many of them are.
Posted by: RR GOP | February 16, 2009, 9:42 pm 9:42 pm
Hilary Clinton should take a more
restrained line towards North Korea
at the beginning of the Obama era.
It is not the time to alienate
any regimes from America as the
uncertainty continues despite
the surge of optimism.
Hilary Clintons’ foreign policy should be to maintain cordiality even
towards communist or post-communist
states,with a view to encouraging
open communications in the next few
years.
Shane Lawrence.Cambridge.England.
Posted by: Shane Lawrence | February 17, 2009, 8:30 am 8:30 am
Considering that Asian Americans overwhelmingly voted for Secretary Clinton in the primaries as well as the fact that she is already widely familiar with the Asian audience overseas and popular; this trip makes absolute sense. It was genius to start off this way.
Posted by: irma | February 19, 2009, 7:54 pm 7:54 pm
Crushing oxycodone.
Oxycodone hydro. Oxycodone urine. Oxycodone.
Posted by: Oxycodone side effects. | September 18, 2009, 9:42 am 9:42 am