Kim Jong-il meets with Bill Clinton
- Source: Global Times
- [01:00 August 05 2009]
- Comments
By Park Gayoung and Sun Wei
Former US president Bill Clinton yesterday met North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang and delivered a verbal message from current President Barack Obama, according to Radio Pyongyang and the Korean Central Broadcasting Station.
Clinton’s surprise trip was described by the White House in Washington as a “solely private mission to secure the release of two Americans.”
Cui Zhiying, director of the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at Tongji University in China, told the Global Times that the primary mission of Clinton is to release the two female journalists, arrested March 17 for trespassing while reporting on refugees fleeing the North, and sentenced to 12 years of “reform through hard labor.”
“If Clinton’s visit succeeds, they might start bilateral talks on other issues,” Cui said.
Yoo Ho-yeol, a North Korean studies professor at Korea University, told South Korea’s Yonhap News agency that chances were high that Clinton will be able to return home with the two journalists.
“Clinton would have not ventured into North Korea without assurances that he will be able to bring the journalists out of Pyongyang,” Yoo said.
Clinton’s visit also raised hopes for a breakthrough in the long-stalled nuclear disarmament talks and as a momentum for dialogue.
North Korea’s state news agency yesterday showed footage of Clinton greeted at Pyongyang’s Sunan airport by senior officials including nuclear envoy Kim Kye-gwan, suggesting talks could also include nuclear issues.
Kim Yong-hyum, a North Korea studies professor at Dongguk University in South Korea, said that the former US leader was expected to discuss a series of political issues including the nuclear programs.
“There will be no major breakthrough with his trip alone, but I believe it will provide a fresh momentum for nuclear disarmament talks,” Kim said.
Analysts compared Clinton’s visit to that of former US president Jimmy Carter, which diffused tensions over North Korea’s first nuclear program in 1994.
“The significance of Clinton’s visit lies in the possible breakthrough of the stalemate,” Cui said, adding that the current deadlocked situation was incomparable to the tension president Carter faced, when the issue was hung by a single hair.
The standoff intensified as North Korea quit the Six-Party Talks after the UN censured its long-range rocket launch in April.
While the North last month reiterated that it would not return to the Six-Party Talks, it indicated willingness for bilateral talks with the US.
Agencies contributed to this story
