Posted October. 23, 2000 19:22,
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright met with Kim Jong-Il, North Korean Defense Commission Chairman, in Pyongyang on Monday. They exchanged views on a range of issues of mutual concern, including North Korea's missiles and nuclear weapons, the U.S. removal of the North from its list of terrorism sponsoring states, and the opening of liaison offices in respective countries.
Kim was originally expected to meet with Albright on Tuesday but he visited the secretary at the Baekhwawon Guesthouse at 3 p.m. Monday and held talks with her.
It has yet to be disclosed what the two discussed during the historic one-on-one meeting. Albright is known to have exchanged views on the North's abandonment of its long-range missile development program and other issues.
During the meeting, the U. S. secretary of state was believed to convey President Bill Clinton's personal message to the North Korean leader, expressing his desire to visit Pyongyang, it was disclosed.
A State Department official accompanying Albright said that there is a good chance that North Korea would take very important steps, in relation to issues raised between Washington and Pyongyang in past weeks, raising the possibility that the North Korean defense commission chairman would make a landmark proposition.
Due to the abrupt meeting between Kim and Albright, her talk with Jo Myong-Rok, first deputy chairman of the defense commission, Kim Yong-Nam, chairman of the Presidium of the North Korean Supreme People's Assembly, and Foreign Minister Paek Nam-Sun, scheduled to be held on Monday, have been cancelled or postponed.
Kim Jong-Il also hosted a dinner for the visiting secretary and her entourage at the Guesthouse in the evening.
Secretary Albright landed in Sunan Airport, Pyongyang, aboard a special plane around 7 p.m. Monday, beginning her visit of two nights and three days.
Greeted by Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye-Gwan at the airport, the secretary paid respect to the Kumsusan Memorial Hall where the late Kim Il-Sung's body is interned and looked around an orphanage and the food distribution center of the World Food Program (WFP) in Pyongyang.
Meanwhile, The New York Times reported Sunday that President Clinton obviously hopes to make a North Korean visit, despite some critical domestic views on the trip.