June 8, 1998
Washington - Just last month the Clinton administration described the Korean Peninsula as "perhaps the most dangerous place on Earth." Now it may represent one of the few spots of hope around the globe.
South Korean President Kim Dae Jung, who arrives at the White House for a state visit Tuesday, will reiterate his recent call for an end to US economic sanctions against North Korea, which South Korea technically has been at war with for more than four decades. The United States fought on the side of South Korea and lost 55,000 Americans. Another 102,000 were injured.
"It would be desirable for the United States to ease its economic sanctions on North Korea," Kim said recently in Seoul. "I think this would be more effective in efforts to get North Korea to open up and liberalize." Some prominent US think tanks agree with Kim. The Council on Foreign Relations issued a report recently which said the US government needs to move more quickly to expand contacts with the North and offer more economic inducements. "It is time for a bolder approach," according to the report compiled by a task force of prominent foreign policy experts who met with Kim and senior aides in April. They recommended "modest adjustments" to but not lifting of US sanctions.
Clinton will react with some wariness; after India and Pakistan set off rival nuclear tests, North Korea suggested it might try to develop nuclear technology itself despite an agreement to curtail its nuclear program. Aware of likely resistance to detente with North Korea on the part of conservatives in Congress, Kim plans to meet with congressional leaders as well as with Clinton during his nine-day visit to the United States.
