World

N. Korea Offers To Give Up Rockets

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

July 19, 2000 / 1:33 PM EDT / CBS

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has offered to abandon his country's rocket program if other nations supply him with rockets to explore space, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday during the first visit to North Korea by a Russian or Soviet leader.

The historic two-day meeting was billed as an effort to reinvigorate bilateral ties that have floundered since the Soviet Union broke up a decade ago. The trip comes on the heels of a breakthrough summit in June between Russia and leaders of the two Koreas.

Putin, seen on Russia's ORT public television, said the proposal on rockets emerged "precisely because of the trusting nature of our discussions."

He said Kim had "voiced an idea under which North Korea is even prepared to use exclusively the rocket equipment of other countries for peaceful space research if they offer it."

In 1998, North Korea sent jitters through the West by test-firing a medium-range ballistic missile over Japan. Pyongyang said it was a space shot to launch a satellite, a claim widely dismissed abroad.
Putin, who held two hours of talks with Kim in Pyongyang, said the North Korean leader had assured him that the country's missile program was entirely peaceful, Interfax news agency reported.

"North Korea is even prepared to use exclusively the missile technology of other countries if it is offered rocket boosters for peaceful space research," Putin was quoted as saying.

Asked if Russia was prepared to offer its rockets for Korean space exploration, Putin said: "Why should only Russia pay? One should expect other countries, if they assert that (North Korea) poses a threat for them, would support this project," Interfax reported. "One can minimize the threat by supplying (North Korea) with its rocket boosters," it quoted him as saying.

"We suggest that the efforts of the Russian Federation alone are not sufficient. We should all – (North Korea), South Korea, as well as the United States, China and Japan -- support that process."

Putin also said the two states had signed a declaration underscoring a commitment to the U.N. charter and "similar views on resolving certain international problems."

The Soviet Union and North Korea were once ideological allies, but relations soured after Moscow recognized pro-Western South Korea in 1990.

Interfax said Putin acknowledged during the talks that ties between them had been at a low point, but added that a friendship treaty signed in February was a "positive step." Russia's lower house of parliament marked the visit by ratifying the agreement. The news agency said Putin also invited Kim to visit Moscow.

Putin arrived in Pyongyang on Wednesday from Beijing, where met with Chinese President Jiang Zemin to pledge to work together toward a "strategic partnership" in global affairs, particularly against what they see as U.S. military dominance.

Hundreds of thousands of people lined the street waving pink paper flowers and national flags. They cheered "Welcome Putin!" and "Long live Kim Jong-Il!"

After the welcome ceremony, Putin lay flowers at a memorial for North Korea's founder, Kim's father Kim Il-Sung.

Putin's swing through Beijing and Pyongyang seemed designed to show that Russia remains an influential player in Asia despite its shaky economy.

No Soviet or Russian leaders before Putin had visited North Korea, compared to six summit meetings so far between Russia and South Korea.

Putin is scheduled to travels to Japan for a summit of the Group of Eight major industrialized nations this weekend. He is also expected to visit Seoul before or after a trip to Japan in early September.

High on Putin's agenda in North Korea is Moscow's objection to a U.S. national missile defense system meant to fend off any attacks from countries like North Korea and Iraq.

North Korea is believed to have missiles capable of reaching Hawaii and Alaska. CIA reports show that the communist North has the potential to develop longer-range missiles that can reach the U.S. continent.

"If Putin can persuade North Korea to make gestures or express in any form its intentions to stop or not to pursue further missile developments, that would greatly strengthen his voice at the G-8 meeting," said Chon Hong-san, a political science professor at Pusan University.

"Putin will do all he can do to persuade North Korea, because it considers the U.S. anti-missile system a direct threat to its security," he said.

Also on Putin's agenda is rebuilding economic ties with North Korea, many of whose major industrial plants were built with Soviet technology. Most of those plants are reportedly outdated and need renovation.

Putin is expected to offer to refurbish those idle plants with Russian experts and technology if South Korea provides financing.

In post-Soviet times, Russia, with its own economic problems, has virtually neglected impoverished North Korea. In 1995, it backed away from a decades-old military alliance with the North.

Trade, which once exceeded $1 billion, stood at a mere $50 million in 1999, compared with $2.2 billion in two-way trade between Seoul and Moscow that year, South Korean officials said.