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By Kim Sue-young Staff Reporter Former U.S. President Bill Clinton met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il Tuesday a few hours after he arrived in Pyongyang to obtain the release of two detained journalists. Clinton and Kim discussed ``issues of common interest,'' the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. It also said that Clinton delivered messages from President Barack Obama to Kim ― who expressed his appreciation ― before the two had a ``serious'' conversation. The report did not detail the content of the messages. His surprise trip to the isolated state has drawn attention from the international community ― as well as South Korea ― as the rare visit is expected to make a breakthrough in stalled denuclearization talks and chilled relations between North Korea and the United States. North Korean media earlier confirmed his visit to Pyongyang, reporting that he was greeted upon arrival by officials including chief nuclear envoy Kim Kye-gwan. His itinerary and the purpose of the visit were not elaborated on though. The South Korean government refrained from commenting on the visit due to the sensitivity of the issue. The White House also refused to discuss the trip while it is underway with its spokesman Robert Gibbs calling it ``solely a private mission.'' Observers speculate that Clinton's primary mission is apparently to free two American journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who were apprehended on March 17 near the border area between China and North Korea. The two were working with Current TV, co-founded by former Vice President Al Gore, and were reportedly filming the harsh life of North Korean female defectors there. They were sentenced to 12 years in a labor camp for illegal entry and hostile acts following a trial. Clinton is expected to meet with North Korean officials on this matter and hopefully take the two reporters home with him. Some reports said that incumbent officials from the Obama administration were not included in the entourage because of the administration's principle to separately deal with political and humanitarian issues. However, analysts said the former U.S. President would possibly discuss political issues including the North's nuclear program. Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, said during his visit to Seoul last month that the United States could offer a "comprehensive package" to North Korea if it gives up its nuclear ambitions. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton's wife, also indicated that Washington was even considering the normalization of diplomatic ties with the secretive state in return for nuclear disarmament. North Korea declared a boycott of the six-party denuclearization talks in response to U.N. condemnation of its April 5 rocket launch. Pyongyang's second nuclear test on May 25 and launch of missiles also resulted in the tougher U.N. Security Council Resolution 1874. Former President Kim Dae-jung had advised Clinton to visit North Korea during their meeting in Seoul last May, according to Rep. Park Jie-won, a long-time aide to the former head of state. Rep. Park quoted Kim as having advised Clinton to visit Pyongyang as an envoy to end the deadlock in inter-Korean relations and Washington-Pyongyang ties. Upon hearing the advice, Clinton was said to have promised that he would convey the proposal to his wife and President Obama. During his presidency, Clinton was an ardent supporter of Kim's ``Sunshine Policy'' of engaging North Korea. ksy@koreatimes.co.kr U.S. gives recommendations to Russia on banking with N.Korea04/08/200922:19 MOSCOW, August 4 (RIA Novosti) - Deputy Assistant Secretary to the U.S. Under Secretary of the Treasury Daniel Glaser on Tuesday handed Moscow additional recommendations on private banks operating with North Korea. A U.S. delegation headed by the coordinator for enforcement of UN sanctions against North Korea, Philip Goldberg, arrived in Moscow on Monday to discuss measures against the reclusive state. "The American representative emphasized that the main goal of the meeting is a warning by private commercial banks on risks that they take when entering into contracts with North Korean banks," the Association of Russian Banks press service said. The ARB director, Garegin Tosunyan, who was at the meeting on Tuesday, said that he shares the U.S. concerns in regard to risks and promised to forward the information to the association's members. Glaser gave the participants of the meeting additional recommendations to those that have already been given to the Russian administration A source in Russia's Foreign Ministry said earlier the U.S. delegation's agenda this week would cover the sanctions against Pyongyang that were agreed by the UN Security Council last month but no new sanctions would be discussed. "The Americans are not pushing for additional sanctions not approved by the UN Security Council's Resolution 1874," the source said, adding that Russia was sticking firmly to its position that two-party sanctions are not productive. Additional sanctions under Resolution 1874 include the search of North Korean shipping vessels on the open sea if they are believed to be carrying prohibited materials, as well as freezing bank accounts if they are believed to be used to fund the country's nuclear or rocket programs. In the end of July, North Korea said it was ready for bilateral talks with the United States but repeated it would not rejoin the six-party talks over its nuclear program, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported. Washington has been unresponsive to Pyongyang's request, demanding the North return to the international talks involving the two Koreas, Russia, China, Japan and the United States. The communist state quit the talks and announced the restart of its nuclear program after the UN Security Council condemned its April 5 long-range missile launch. The Security Council imposed tougher sanctions on the North after it conducted its second nuclear test in May.
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Tuesday, August 04, 2009
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