Albright Meets Kim Jong Il, Presents Clinton's LetterLeader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Kim Jong Il, on Monday held historic talks in Pyongyang with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and the two are expected to meet again on Tuesday."The secretary and Kim Jong Il met for three hours. The conversations were substantial; we found them useful," U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters in Pyongyang. Boucher said that during the meeting, Albright gave Kim a letter from President Bill Clinton dealing with Clinton's expectations of how to further develop relations between the two countries. He said Kim and Albright were expected to meet again on Tuesday because "they have more to talk about." During their meeting Monday afternoon, Kim and Albright focused their discussions on issues of how to improve ties between the two countries and Clinton's possible visit to Pyongyang in the near future. The meeting was substantial and beneficial since Kim and Albright discussed issues such as nuclear weapons, according to a U.S. official who is in company with Albright in Pyongyang. Albright was quoted as saying that Tuesday's meeting will be more fruitful. After Monday's meeting with Kim, Albright held talks with Vice Marshal Cho Myong Rok, first vice chairman of the DPRK's National Defense Commission, and then attended a mass performance together with her party in Pyongyang's giant May 1st stadium in the accompany of Kim Jong Il. At a banquet held for Albright in the evening, Cho said that Albright's visit marks the formation of new ties between the DPRK and the United States. Developing good relations between the United States and the DPRK is important not only to the two countries and the Korean peninsula but also to peace and stability in Northeast Asia, said Cho. The DPRK marshal, who met Clinton in Washington on October 9, also emphasized that it is vital to build mutual confidence between the two nations' leaders to erase the deeply-rooted distrust between them. Albright began her official visit in Pyongyang early Monday by visiting the mausoleum of the DPRK's late leader Kim Il Sung in Kumsusan Palace where she stopped for "a few minutes" to look at the late Kim's remains. Albright's visit to the mausoleum is seen as another symbolic friendship gesture from the United States to the DPRK. Albright is being accompanied by more than 160 journalists from world major news media. |
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