Albright Trip Marks Korean Thaw

P Y O N G Y A N G, North Korea, Oct. 24, 2000 -- Secretary of State MadeleineAlbright celebrated a thawing relationship with North KoreanOfficials today, even while acknowledging that it will take timeto erase 50 years of enmity and mistrust dating back to the KoreanWar.

Albright, the highest-level U.S. official to ever visit NorthKorea, met for a second day with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il,who had described himself Monday as “really very happy” to havethe opportunity to meet with the secretary of state.

In their three hours of talks Monday, Kim and Albright discussed“the issues which were of concern to us,” State Departmentspokesman Richard Boucher said.

Chief among those issues is North Korea’s missile developmentprogram and its export of missiles to Iran and Syria.

A Trip to the Country

Albright ventured out into the countryside Tuesday for a lunchhosted by Cho Myong Nok, Kim’s top aide, at a rural guest house.Trees along the route from capital were ablaze with color.

Toasting her host, Albright said: “The U.S. loves peace and wewant to see Cold War divisions end. We want countries to feelsecure from the threats, conflict and war.”

In his remarks, Rok said the U.S.-North Korean relationship“that has been frozen so deep over the past several decades is nowreaching the historic moment of thawing.”

Jo, whose toast was read by Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye Gwan,said he was convinced that Albright’s visit would lead to “furtherimproved breakthroughs” in the relationship between theircountries.

Korean War: The Last Chapter?

Indeed, Albright was seeking to lay the groundwork for a visitby President Clinton as early as next month. White House spokesmanJake Siewert said the president would not decide whether to makethe trip until Albright’s return.

“We have some hope of resolving our outstanding differenceswith North Korea and looking forward to the day when they willtruly close the last chapter in the aftermath of the Korean War,”Clinton said Monday.

Albright urged caution. “We must be pragmatic and recognizethat the road to fully normal relations remains uphill,” she said.

From her first step on North Korean soil to her meeting withKim, Monday was a day of firsts for Albright. No other secretary ofstate had ventured to North Korea, nor had any other U.S. officialsmet with the reclusive leader.

Kim made note of the occasion. “This is a new one from ahistoric point of view,” he said.

Albright was his guest at a spectacular performance ofacrobatics and dance, and witnessed the vivid display of adorationthat Kim received from the thousands in attendance. She was notintroduced to the crowd.

Flashing color-coded cards aloft, a section of the crowdlionized the North Korean military and laborers. Gymnasts anddancers, through their motions, extolled “the great Comrade Kim IlSung’s Party,” in honor of the current leader’s father, founder ofthe Stalinist state.

Courtesy Calls

Albright paid separate courtesy calls earlier Tuesday onPresident Kim Yong Nam, the ceremonial head of state, and the NorthKorean foreign minister, Paek Nam Sun.

They sat across at wooden conference tables polished to such agloss that their reflections were crisply mirrored. The walls wereadorned with large pictures of Kim and his father, omnipresentimages throughout the communist nation.

The threat of war has hung over the Korean peninsula since theend of the war. About 37,000 American troops are stationed in SouthKorea.

North Korea has been included on the U.S. list of statessupporting international terrorism since January 1988, after NorthKorean agents bombed a South Korean airliner, KAL Flight 858, inNovember 1987, killing 115 people.