By
The Associated Press
PYONGYANG, North Korea - North Korea has accepted the idea of working toward restraint in its missile program, U.S. officials said yesterday, citing progress on a critical issue dividing the two countries as they explore reconciliation after 50 years.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright ended her historic talks with North Korean leader Kim Gong Il struck by the improbability of it all - a cordial visit to a Stalinist land that the United States until recently called a rogue state.
But both sides knew they had a long way to go to bury enmity arising from the Korean War and the vast differences between the open democracy and the closed communist regime.
"The glasses I have on are not rose colored," Albright said.
Kim, commenting before their final meeting yesterday, said: "I don't think the three hours of discussions we had yesterday were enough to break the silence of 50 years."
Albright told reporters she took seriously a remark by Kim - delivered seemingly offhand at a gymnastic exhibition - that his state would refrain from long-range missile launches.
Kim had raised the issue when an image of a Taepo Dong I missile was flashed before the audience. "He quipped that this was the first satellite launch and it would be the last," Albright said.
Asked if she interpreted that as a pledge for a permanent moratorium on missile launches, Albright said, "I take what he said as serious as to his desire to move forward to resolve various questions."
A State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said after Albright and Kim finished their talks that the North Korean leader has accepted the idea of "serious restraint" in missiles.
Albright was going to Seoul, South Korea, today to tell South Korean and Japanese officials about her talks with Kim. President Clinton is considering whether to visit North Korea himself, a trip that could come next month.
The American delegation held a farewell dinner for Kim and his officials, serving roast turkey, beef steak and trout, with California wine.
They dined in a six-sided room in the palatial Magnolia Hall, glowing with brilliant lights shining on marble - all this in a state where many North Koreans, even near the capital, use candles and oil lamps to cope with an electricity shortage and their poverty.
"I never expected to play the role of host for such a gathering as this," she said, toasting Kim and remarking upon the recent moves toward a rapprochement.
"Pick up the phone anytime," she told Kim in farewell, giving the leader - a basketball fan - a ball signed by Michael Jordan.
Kim replied: "Please give me your e-mail address."
Diplomats offered no further elaboration of Kim's words in the meetings. Lower level talks on missiles were planned for next week.
Many analysts are convinced North Korea already has the capacity to strike at the perimeter of the United States with a long-range missile.
That concern has been the main impetus for proposals to build a U.S. national missile defense system. North Korea already has agreed to freeze its nuclear weapons program and to stop selling missiles to regimes the United States considers hostile.
"Chairman Kim was quite clear in explaining his understanding of U.S. concerns," Albright said of her meetings, describing him as "a good listener and very decisive."
Albright said they also discussed security issues, terrorism, human rights and "the need for concrete steps toward tension reduction on the Korean peninsula."
"It is important that we work to overcome the enmities of the past and focus on a brighter future for our peoples," Albright said.
China expressed hope that the U.S.-North Korean talks would help bring stability to the Korean peninsula. "We hope that this momentum will be maintained so that relations will be further improved," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao told a news conference in Beijing.
Earlier in the day, Albright ventured into the countryside for a lunch held by Jo Myong Rok, Kim's top aide, at a rural guest house. Trees along the route from the capital were ablaze with the colors of autumn.
Toasting her host there, Albright said: "The U.S. loves peace and we want to see Cold War divisions end. We want countries to feel secure from threats, conflict and war."
In his remarks, Jo said the U.S.-North Korean relationship "that has been frozen so deep over the past several decades is now reaching the historic moment of thawing."
Clinton said Monday: "We have some hope of resolving our outstanding differences with North Korea and looking forward to the day when they will truly close the last chapter in the aftermath of the Korean War."
No other secretary of state had ventured to North Korea, nor had any other U.S. officials met Kim, who took over after his father, Kim Il Sung, commonly referred to as "Great Leader," died in July 1994. The father had been in charge since 1948, before the Korean war.
