Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is in Seoul for talks after receiving a personal pledge from the North`s Kim Jong-Il of a halt to long-range missile tests. Albright, whose trip to the North Korean capital Pyongyang will determine whether US President Bill Clinton will visit, plans to confer in Seoul with Foreign Minister Lee Joung-binn and Japanese counterpart Yohei Kono and hold a joint news conference . Albright will also meet South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who won this year`s Nobel Peace Prize in part for his "sunshine policy" of greater engagement with the North highlighted by his summit in Pyongyang in June with Kim Jong-il.
A senior US official reported on Tuesday that Kim Jong-il told Albright that a 1998 missile launch which Pyongyang said put a satellite in orbit would be the last. The official later said that the talks confirmed Kim`s remarks at the pageant. If the United States persuades North Korea to give up long-range missiles and exports of missile technology, it will undermine the principal argument for a US missile defence system costing tens of billions of dollars.

Bureau Report