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U.S. State Secretary Madeline Albright waves to well-wishers on her arrival at the new civic center at Miyazaki, southern Japan, as she is escorted by Miyazaki Mayor Shigemitsu Tsumura, right, Sunday, July 30, 2000. Albright, who missed the foreign ministers' meeting held at this southern Japanese city earlier this month, came here to attend the dedication ceremony of an auditorium that was named after the U.S. secretary. (AP Photo/Katsumi Kasahara)

July 31, 2000 

TOKYO (AP) - U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Sunday paid a belated visit to the venue of a recent foreign ministers' meeting in southern Japan, where officials named a 500-seat auditorium in the city's new civic center after her.

Albright, who missed the meeting earlier this month of the Group of Eight foreign ministers because of Middle East peace talks in Camp David, Maryland, also planned talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Yohei Kono later on Sunday in Tokyo.

Officials in Miyazaki, 895 kilometers (560 miles) southwest of Tokyo, had said at first they would not name the hall after her when she canceled her visit, but changed plans when she announced she would make a belated visit.

"In the United States, auditoriums are usually named after people who have died. I am thankful that you did not choose to make that a requirement in this case," Albright joked in a speech at the dedication.

Albright was also scheduled to pay a half-hour courtesy call on Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on Monday morning, before heading back to Washington.

Albright arrived in Japan from Bangkok, where she met Saturday with North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun in the highest-level meeting between the United States and North Korea in a half-century. She said the talks should help pull the communist state out of international isolation.