North Korea's bespectacled ruler is famously reclusive. He turns his back on visiting dignitaries. His own citizens almost never hear the sound of his voice and he leaves it to official media to deliver harangues against the US.
That made it all the more surprising when Kim Jong-il, in an unexpected meeting Friday with a visiting South Korean envoy, suggested his nation could rejoin nuclear talks and added: "I've been thinking favorably of the United States."
Kim also indicated his country might eventually renounce nuclear weapons in a session with South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young -- his first contact with a top Seoul official since April 2002, and one he clearly held in part to pass a message to Washington.
The US dismissed the overture, saying Kim needed to set a date and make a more concrete commitment to nuclear negotiations.
Kim, in rare flattering comments, said he "has no reason to think badly" of US President George W. Bush and even asked Chung if Bush should be addressed by a Korean honorific that roughly translates as "his excellency."
He said Russian President Vladimir Putin had told him Bush was a "good man to talk to."
"I would find him interesting to talk to," Kim said of Bush. "I've been thinking favorably of the United States since the Clinton administration."
Bush recently referred to Kim using the honorific "Mr." -- a softened tone after earlier comments labeling the North Korean leader a "tyrant" and lumping his country in an "axis of evil" that included Iran and Saddam-era Iraq.
In the past, the North has called Bush a "political imbecile."
"If it is certain that the United States is respecting the North as a partner, North Korea could come to the six-party talks as early as July," Kim said, according to Chung.
Kim added the North's return would need to be "further negotiated" with Washington, Chung said.
The North Korean ruler also said he would welcome international nuclear inspections and rejoin the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty if the nuclear standoff was resolved.
Kim said on Friday that "if the regime's security is guaranteed, there is no reason to possess a single nuclear weapon," according to Chung.
US officials have repeatedly asserted they have no intention of invading the North, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said Washington recognizes North Korea as a sovereign nation.
During the Friday talks, Kim and Chung also agreed to an August resumption of family reunions of Koreans separated by the heavily fortified border. That had been stalled for nearly a year after North-South relations soured followed mass defections.
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Packed crowds in India celebrating their cricket team’s victory ended in a deadly stampede on Wednesday, with 11 mainly young fans crushed to death, the local state’s chief minister said. Joyous cricket fans had come out to celebrate and welcome home their heroes, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, after they beat Punjab Kings in a roller-coaster Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket final on Tuesday night. However, the euphoria of the vast crowds in the southern tech city of Bengaluru ended in disaster, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra calling it “absolutely heartrending.” Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said most of the deceased are young, with 11 dead
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a