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DPRK, US Hold Historic Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok
United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and her counterpart from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Paek Nam Sun, here on Friday held the first ministerial meeting between the two countries in more than half a century.
Talking to the media after her meeting with Paek Nam Sun, Albright said, "my meeting with Paek is substantively modest but symbolically historic a step away from the hostility of the past and towards more direct and promising approach to resolving the differences and establishing common ground."
The meeting was held on the sideline of the meeting between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its 10 dialogue partners.
The purpose of Friday's meeting was to make the two foreign ministers get acquainted and make the two countries realize their interests in more normal bilateral ties and to touch on briefly the core issues they have discussed on the other levels for some time, Albright said.
Albright told Paek the United States welcomes DPRK's decision to participate in the ASEAN Regional Forum because DPRK has the potential to contribute in an important way to a more stable Asia-Pacific.
She voiced full support of the United States for the intensified inter-Korean dialogue now under way, saying that the process of mutual engagement can "do much to address the needs and aspirations of all Koreans."
The United States is also encouraged by DPRK's efforts to expand relations with other countries and its moratorium of long-range missile launch, Albright said.
Replying to the question whether the United States still considers DPRK "an enemy," Albright said, "I made it very clear it is very important to get past the 50 years of hostility and look toward the future."
The United States and DPRK have taken some "modest steps" and this meeting is a step in that direction, she said.
Albright said she remained realistic about the development of the bilateral ties but had become "somehow more optimistic" than before about the prospects of the long-term stability of the Korean Peninsula and throughout the region.
Albright said she and Paek expected to meet each other at the General Assembly of the United Nations.
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