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Clinton Voices Regret Over Frankfurt Airport Confrontation
U.S. President Bill Clinton Thursday expressed regret about a confrontation between officials from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and U.S. security personnel that led to the cancellation of the DPRK's participation in the Millennium Summit, which kicked off Wednesday at the U.N. headquarters in New York.
Clinton voiced his regret in his meeting with South Korean President Kim Dae-jung at his hotel in downtown New York, where the two presidents were meeting on the sidelines of the three-day summit to discuss the U.N. role in the new century.
Clinton, who met the South Korean president for an hour Thursday morning, asked Kim for help smooth out "the hurt feelings" in the DPRK, South Korean officials said.
During the meeting, Clinton told Kim that the U.S. government "tried every way possible" to get the DPRK delegation to New York for the U.N. event but to no avail, the South Korean officials said.
South Korean government sources said that the U.S. government has also expressed regret over the incident in a formal letter to the DPRK government.
Clinton said he hopes the two sides on the Korean Peninsula will continue their dialogue so as to realize an early reunification of the peninsula.
The head of the DPRK delegation to the Millennium Summit, Kim Yong Nam, canceled his visit to New York Tuesday after he and members of his delegation were forced to go through body search by U.S. airport security personnel during a stopover at Frankfurt airport in Germany.
The DPRK Foreign Ministry issued a statement Wednesday in Pyongyang, condemning the U.S. efforts to prevent its delegation from attending the Millennium Summit, which attracted more than 160 heads of state or government.
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