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.
Nauru has started selling passports to fund climate action, but is so far struggling to attract new citizens to the low-lying, largely barren island in the Pacific Ocean. Nauru, one of the world’s smallest nations, has a novel plan to fund its fight against climate change by selling so-called “Golden Passports.” Selling for US$105,000 each, Nauru plans to drum up more than US$5 million in the first year of the “climate resilience citizenship” program. Almost six months after the scheme opened in February, Nauru has so far approved just six applications — covering two families and four individuals. Despite the slow start —
MOGAMI-CLASS FRIGATES: The deal is a ‘big step toward elevating national security cooperation with Australia, which is our special strategic partner,’ a Japanese official said Australia is to upgrade its navy with 11 Mogami-class frigates built by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles said yesterday. Billed as Japan’s biggest defense export deal since World War II, Australia is to pay US$6 billion over the next 10 years to acquire the fleet of stealth frigates. Australia is in the midst of a major military restructure, bolstering its navy with long-range firepower in an effort to deter China. It is striving to expand its fleet of major warships from 11 to 26 over the next decade. “This is clearly the biggest defense-industry agreement that has ever
DEADLY TASTE TEST: Erin Patterson tried to kill her estranged husband three times, police said in one of the major claims not heard during her initial trial Australia’s recently convicted mushroom murderer also tried to poison her husband with bolognese pasta and chicken korma curry, according to testimony aired yesterday after a suppression order lapsed. Home cook Erin Patterson was found guilty last month of murdering her husband’s parents and elderly aunt in 2023, lacing their beef Wellington lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms. A series of potentially damning allegations about Patterson’s behavior in the lead-up to the meal were withheld from the jury to give the mother-of-two a fair trial. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale yesterday rejected an application to keep these allegations secret. Patterson tried to kill her
MILITARY’S MAN: Myint Swe was diagnosed with neurological disorders and peripheral neuropathy disease, and had authorized another to perform his duties Myint Swe, who became Myanmar’s acting president under controversial circumstances after the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi more than four years ago, died yesterday, the military said. He was 74. He died at a military hospital in the capital, Naypyidaw, in the morning, Myanmar’s military information office said in a statement. Myint Swe’s death came more than a year after he stopped carrying out his presidential duties after he was publicly reported to be ailing. His funeral is to be held at the state level, but the date had not been disclosed, a separate statement from the
RSS