Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
On June 13 U.S. special envoy Jack Pritchard met North Korea's U.N. envoy Li hyong Chol in New York, beginning a dialogue between the Bush administration and the government in Pyongyang. Applauding the administration's decision, an Independent Task Force on Korea sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations asserts that "no critics have offered a better idea than the difficult course of sustained, hard-headed engagement in pursuit of U.S. and allied interests."
Proliferation Roundtable
European mediators are filling the vacuum left by President George Bush's decision not to pursue talks with North Korea. Appalled at the cold shoulder Bush gave South Korea's president and democracy hero, Kim Dae Jung, European Union President Goran Persson will soon go to the region to expedite ways to defuse the nuclear missile threat posed by the North. This is a new role for the Europeans, and one long overdue.
U.S.-South Korean relations will be put to the test this week as South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung visits Washington. Kim’s recent summit with Russian President Putin produced a joint statement effectively opposing U.S. plans to deploy national missile defenses, complicating President Bush’s first foray into East Asian security affairs.
As President Clinton exits the White House, Harold Koh, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, evaluates the administration's strategy for and record of advancing democracy around the world.
Presenters: David Albright, Institute for Science and International Security and Jon Wolfsthal, Associate, Carnegie Non-Proliferation Project
After US Secretary of State Albright's historic trip to North Korea the US appears cautiously optimistic that the visit will lead to future progress on a key security issue that has long concerned Washington: North Korea's continued development and export of missiles. The two sides agreed to hold talks on Pyongyang's missile programs this week, reportedly in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, November 1. The results of the talks may determine whether President Clinton will visit North Korea later in the year.
In Pyongyang Tuesday, US Secretary of State Madeline K. Albright concluded the highest level talks between North Korea and the United States since the end of the Korean War. During the three-day visit, Albright addressed a number of US security concerns, including North Korea's missile development programs and missile exports. US officials have stated that further improvement of relations will hinge on North Korea reigning in its missile programs. Negotiations also may lead to an easing of military tensions on the Korean peninsula, and eventual normalization of US relations with the Communist nation.
In a major step towards establishing formal relations and easing tensions on the Korean peninsula, U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright will travel to North Korea on October 23 to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. This would be the first ever meeting by a high-level U.S. official with the North Korean leader, and the trip could pave the way for a visit to Korea by President Clinton in November, an event unimaginable just one year ago.
Secretary of State Madeline Albright’s upcoming visit to North Korea is the latest in an avalanche of diplomatic initiatives promising a more secure future in the Koreas and East Asia. Successful talks would vindicate the Clinton Administration’s approach to peace and security on the Korean Peninsula.