N.K., U.S. agree to set up diplomatic missions

North Korea and the United States agreed to set up diplomatic representative offices in each other's capitals during Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's visit to Pyongyang last month, it was disclosed on Wednesday. The projected missions would be of a higher level than the liaison offices stipulated in the 1994 Agreed Framework.

Reliable diplomatic sources in Seoul said that the two sides reached a broad agreement on the establishment of diplomatic missions of a higher level than trade representative offices and planned to announce a concrete accord to this effect during President Bill Clinton¡¯s visit to the North.

A related government official disclosed that Secretary Albright explained the Washington-Pyongyang agreement in detail during her meeting with President Kim Dae-Jung following her North Korean trip.

The official added that President Kim's remarks disclosing the North Korea-U.S. accord on the setup of mutual diplomatic representative offices may have been based on Albright¡¯s briefings in this regard.

However, noting that the Pyongyang leadership may have intended to offer the setup of the diplomatic missions as a return gift for Clinton's North Korean visit, the experts predicted that the pact could be stalled with the prospects of Clinton's North Korea trip growing slimmer due to the current presidential election dispute in the U. S.