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Clinton Will not Visit North Korea During Asia Tour: White House
President Bill Clinton will not stop in North Korea when he visits Asia this month but has not ruled out making a trip to the country before he leaves office, the White House said Saturday.
"The president has not made a decision on whether he will go to North Korea before the end of his term," said presidential spokesman Jake Siewert.
"He will, however, not go to Pyongyang at the end of his upcoming trip to Brunei and Vietnam," Siewert said in New York state where Clinton was on the campaign trail.
Clinton is due to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) summit in Brunei on November 15-16, and will then become the first US president to visit Vietnam since US troops were defeated by North Vietnamese communists.
He hands power to his successor on January 20.
Clinton was invited to North Korea last month during a visit to Washington by Vice Marshal Jo Myong-Rok, a special envoy from the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il.
The decision not to include North Korea on the president's itinerary came after talks between the two sides on Pyongyang's missile program wrapped up on Friday in Kuala Lumpur with significant issues still unresolved.
The White House had previously said the extent of progress at those talks would be crucial in deciding whether a visit by Clinton was merited.
A summit between Clinton and Kim would crown the country's diplomatic emergence after decades as a Cold War adversary of Washington.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright last month discussed a reported offer by Kim Jong-Il to give up the program in return for access to satellite launches.
Despite the apparent inconclusive ending to the Kuala Lumpur talks, US delegation leader Robert Einhorn described them as "detailed constructive and very substantive."
He said in his statement the talks "covered the full range of missile issues under consideration by the two countries, including North Korea's missile-related exports and its indigenous missile programs."
The two sides also "explored in depth the idea of exchanging launches of DPRK (North Korean) satellites for serious missile restraint by the DPRK."
Clinton has come under increasing pressure in recent days not to go to North Korea, from domestic critics who have warned that any visit would be portrayed in Pyongyang as a stamp of approval for Kim Jong-Il.
State Department officials have stressed all along that a Clinton visit would only be made if significant progress was expected, adding that they are committed to a step-by-step process of easing tensions with North Korea.
The United States has cautiously welcomed North Korea's diplomatic emergence but warned that it must see concrete signs that Pyongyang is committed to easing tensions before it will offer concessions.
As Tuesday's presidential election approached, Albright urged the next resident of the White House to follow down the path set by the current administration.
"The next president will have to choose whether to continue down the path we have begun," Albright said Thursday.
"Respectfully, I hope he will and believe he should, because I am convinced it is the right path for America, our allies and the people of Korea," she said in an address to the National Press Club.
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