DATE=12/28/2000

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-270883

TITLE=CLINTON / NORTH KOREA (L)

BYLINE=DAVID GOLLUST

DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: President Clinton - ending weeks of speculation about his plans - has announced he will not travel to North Korea before he leaves office January 20th to try to conclude a missile-control agreement. However, the president says considerable progress has been made on the issue. V-O-A's David Gollust reports from the White House.

TEXT: There have been intensive contacts between the sides since Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's ground-breaking visit to Pyongyang in October about the terms under which North Korea would abandon its long-range missile program.

But at a news conference here, Mr. Clinton said it has become evident there is not enough time to clear away remaining issues and prepare for a visit in the little more than three weeks left in his term in office:

/// CLINTON ACTUALITY ///

We made a lot of progress with them. And I believe that the next administration will be able to consummate this agreement. I expect visits back and forth. I think a lot of things will happen. And I think it will make the world a much safer place. I feel very good about what we've done. I simply concluded that in the days I have remaining, I didn't have the time to put the trip together, and to execute it in the proper way.

/// END ACT ///

There have been news reports that senior aides to President-elect George W. Bush were less-than-enthusiastic about the prospect of a last-minute Clinton visit to North Korea.

But Mr. Clinton said he had a good discussion about the issue with Mr. Bush when he visited the White House last week, and said the incoming president did not discourage the contacts with North Korea in any way.

The administration has been seeking an agreement under which North Korea would halt development of long-range missiles like the one it fired across Japanese territory two years ago, and end exports of missile technology.

North Korea has suspended the testing of such missiles and its leader, Kim Jong-Il, has suggested it might scrap the program altogether if Pyongyang got outside help with satellite launches.

In a written statement, Mr. Clinton said Kim Jong-Il has put forward a "serious proposal" on the missile program. He said while there is insufficient time for him to conclude the negotiations, the United States has what he termed "a clear national interest" in seeing the process through.

In the statement, Mr. Clinton also paid tribute to South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung who he said has "earned the world's admiration" for an engagement policy with the North that has helped reduce tensions on the Korean peninsula. (Signed)

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