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Putin to visit North Korea in first ever trip by a Russian leader |
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June 10, 2000
MOSCOW, JUNE 9 (AP) - President Vladimir Putin will visit North Korea for talks on efforts to defuse the political situation on the Korean peninsula and U.S. plans to build an anti-missile defense system, officials said Friday.
Russian media reports Friday said Putin had also accepted an invitation to visit South Korea this year during a recent telephone conversation with South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, but Kremlin officials could not confirm them.
The Kremlin said Putin would visit North Korea this summer, but did not give any dates. Some Russian media reports said that Putin would stop in Pyongyang on his way to the G-8 summit of industrialized nations in Japan on July 21-23.
While an agenda has not been set for the talks in Pyongyang, military and strategic issues will be discussed, including U.S. calls to build an anti-missile defense system, according to Russian officials and media reports.
Putin plans a wide range of international trips to reassert Moscow's image as a major world power, one of his top goals. Moscow has been much more aggressive on the world stage since Putin took power, challenging the United States on several issues and seeking the support of other nations.
Putin is expected to seek further diplomatic support in Asia, including on Moscow's opposition to the U.S. anti-missile defense proposal. Some U.S. allies are worried that they would not be defended by the U.S. system and it could lead to a new international arms race.
Some Russian officials have scoffed at U.S. claims that North Korea poses a nuclear threat. Putin's visit to North Korea could be aimed at undermining U.S claims that North Korea poses a threat to international stability.
The U.S. anti-missile plan will be discussed in Pyongyang, including possible cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang on the issue, Georgy Toloraya, a Russian Foreign Ministry official, was quoted as saying by the Vremya Novostei weekly.
U.S. President Bill Clinton failed to gain Russian agreement to amend the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty during a summit with Putin last weekend in Moscow. Washington says the system is needed to defend against attacks from "rogue states" such as North Korea and would not pose a threat to Russia.
The Russian government appeared to concede for the first time during the summit that such risks could exist, but no agreement was reached on amending the treaty. Putin repeated Russian calls to build a joint defense system with the West in Italy earlier this week.
Announcement of Putin's visit came just three days before North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and South Korea's Kim Dae-jung were to begin a three-day summit, the first ever between the divided Koreas. North Korea has been actively courting international recognition after decades of isolation from much of the world.
The Soviet Union supported North Korea, but relations with Moscow declined following the Soviet collapse. Ties between North Korea and Russia have improved slightly in recent years.
While some in the West will see Putin's visit as troubling and a new irritant in relations with Moscow, Russian officials suggested it could help boost stability on the Korean peninsula by coaxing Pyongyang out of its international isolation.
"This is an unprecedented event, a bold step, as no head of state from our country has ever been in North Korea, neither in Soviet nor in Russian times," Toloraya was quoted as saying.
North Korea, beset by a crippled economy and few international friends, appears to be seeking support as it enters the talks with South Korea. Kim Jong Il, who assumed power in 1994 on the death of his father and founder of North Korea, Kim Il Sung, made a secret visit late last month to Beijing for talks with Chinese leaders. It was his first known foreign trip in 17 years.
Earlier this year, North Korea established diplomatic links with Italy, and resumed diplomatic ties with Australia in May.
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