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US/Asia
Clinton promises North Korea normal relations if it scraps nukes
Article published on the 2009-02-17 Latest update 2009-02-19 10:47 TU
Hillary Clinton shakes hands with Japan's opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa in Tokyo on Tuesday
(Photo: Reuters)
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday promised North Korea normal relations if it "eliminates its nuclear programme. The first leg of her tour of Asia brought her to Japan where she also promised to remove US troops from the Okinawa base. She will also visit Indonesia, Korea and China.
Clinton signed an agreement in Tokyo for US to move 8,000 troops from Okinawa in southern Japan to the US Pacific island of Guam.
She also said that the first foreign leader to visit President Obama would be Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, who travels to Washington next week.
Clinton declined to say whether the Obama administration will put North Korea back on its blacklist of "state sponsors of terrorism", offering Pyongyang normal relations if it "verifiably and completely eliminates" the potential to build nuclear weapons.
But she added that she would ask Pyonogyang to account for Japanese were kidnapped in the 1970s and 1980s to train North Korean spies.
The families of abductees met Clinton and gave her a letter requesting that Pyongyang once again be blacklisted.
South Korean Political Scientist Cho Wong-kyo said that South Korea is "always ready to respond to [North Korea's] behaviour in order to deter any kind of armed confrontation".
Interview: Cho Wong-kyo, Kyungnam University
He criticised the "Sunshine" policy of former President Kim Dae Jung, saying it was "wrong, because it simply gives North Korea whatever they want. In return we didn't get anything".
Clinton said the US was committed to "the denuclearisation of North Korea" saying "the prevention of further proliferation ... is a matter of great concern".
On Wednesday and Thursday Clinton will be in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country. Police in Jakarta said they will deploy between 2,400 and 3,100 police officers for the visit.
