-Caveat Lector- North Korea Official To Visit China By CHARLES HUTZLER .c The Associated Press BEIJING (AP) -- North Korea's No. 2 leader will travel to China next week for the highest level visit since Beijing angered its once-close communist ally by opening relations with rival South Korea seven years ago, diplomats said Monday. Kim Yong Nam, head of North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly and second in the ruling Workers' Party only to reclusive leader Kim Jong Il, is expected to bring a large delegation to Beijing for three days starting June 3, the Asian and Western diplomats said on condition of anonymity. China's Foreign Ministry confirmed that Kim would be coming, but would not divulge the dates. It customarily announces the visits of foreign dignitaries only a week before their arrival. Kim's trip follows months of negotiations between Chinese and North Korean officials to arrange an important visit that would symbolize improving relations. Much of that work was geared to getting Kim Jong Il to come to Beijing. But North Korean officials changed tack in the last two months and offered Kim Yong Nam as a substitute, the diplomats said. Diplomats have speculated that with North Korea ruined by four years of famine and the collapse of its centrally planned economy, Kim may also be worried about being ousted by disaffected members of the party and military while abroad. Traveling with him will almost certainly be Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun, while senior military and foreign trade officials are likely to be included as well, the diplomats said. Perry's N.Korea visit seen key to Asia security By Teruaki Ueno TOKYO, May 25 (Reuters) - U.S. presidential envoy William Perry flew to reclusive North Korea on Tuesday for a landmark three-day visit at a crucial time for a Northeast Asia distressed by growing security concerns. Perry, the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the Stalinist state since the 1950-53 Korean War, plans to complete his review of U.S. policy towards unpredictable Pyongyang after meeting with North Korean leaders. U.S. embassy officials in Tokyo said Perry, accompanied by State Department counsellor Wendy Sherman, left a U.S. air base in the Tokyo suburbs by a military plane. U.S. officials and politicians have travelled to Pyongyang using military planes in the past. Perry's trip followed meetings in Tokyo with Japanese and South Korean officials to fine-tune their policies on Pyongyang. Washington decided to rewrite its North Korea policy last December as Pyongyang continued to pose military threats by adamantly refusing to abandon its missile programme and clear up allegations that it may be reviving its nuclear weapons ambitions. The centrepiece in the relationship with the United States is a 1994 landmark nuclear deal under which North Korea agreed to freeze its nuclear programmes in return for help with safe nuclear power plants and free supplies of oil. But Pyongyang angered Washington by developing long-range ballistic missiles, selling missiles and missile technology abroad and embarking on underground building work which the United States says could be part of a nuclear programme. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency ranks North Korea as the world's biggest exporter of ballistic missiles, and defence analysts say Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and Syria are among the nations receiving them. Perry, a former defence secretary, has said he was crafting a ``comprehensive'' approach towards North Korea. But Korea watchers believe the U.S. package may comprise more stick than carrot. Korea watchers in Tokyo say the key question is whether North Korea will accept the new U.S. policy and allay international concerns over its military threat. Analysts say a possible rejection by Pyongyang of the U.S. policy could sharply raise military tensions in the region and even spark a military conflict between North Korea and the United States backed by its Asian allies. In a joint statement after a meeting on Monday in Tokyo, the United States, Japan and South Korea said their approach towards North Korea should be closely coordinated and urged Pyongyang to ``clearly'' understand their respective and collective views. Perry has said Washington, Seoul and Tokyo would need to act together to protect themselves against the unpredictable Stalinist regime. In an apparent effort to avert a possible military crisis, Perry hopes for a meeting with Kim Jong-il, which would make him the first U.S. official to meet the North Korean leader since he took over from his late father Kim Il-sung in 1994. In what analysts see as primarily a response to the potential North Korean threat, the United States and Japan have forged their strongest-ever military alliance and moved closer to jointly developing a multi-billion-dollar missile defence system. In the latest development, Japan's parliament on Monday enacted controversial legislation aimed at strengthening defence ties with the United States and expanding Tokyo's military role in the event of an Asian crisis. Some of the Asian countries -- particularly China and North Korea -- that suffered from Japan's military aggression in the first half of this century vehemently criticised Tokyo and Washington for boosting their military ties. On Tuesday, China voiced ``grave concern'' over the passage of the controversial legislation by Japan's parliament, urging Tokyo not to become a military power and spark uneasiness among its neighbours. China, invaded by Japan in the 1930s, has repeatedly warned that the closer strategic alliance between Tokyo and Washington would cause a military imbalance in the region. Perry To Bring Message to N. Korea By YURI KAGEYAMA .c The Associated Press TOKYO (AP) -- U.S. special envoy William Perry met with Japanese and South Korean officials Monday to come up with a joint message for Perry to take on his visit to North Korea. The three nations said in a joint statement that they agreed upon a message. But the U.S. Embassy and the Japanese and South Korean Foreign Ministries all refused to say what the message was. Perry's trip is part of a U.S. effort to persuade the North to abandon suspected nuclear weapons and missile development programs. There has been speculation that Perry will offer North Korea better relations with the United States if it stops developing nuclear weapons and missiles. Perry, who arrived in Tokyo on Sunday, met with Japanese Foreign Ministry director-general Ryozo Kato and South Korean national security adviser Lim Dong-won, who was appointed national unification minister in a major Cabinet reshuffle in Seoul on Monday. ``The three sides agreed that our approach should continue to be closely coordinated,'' the joint statement said. The visit will also provide a good chance to assess North Korea's views, it said. Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi told Perry in a meeting Monday that he supported Perry's efforts and he stressed the importance of continuing cooperation between the United States, Japan and South Korea on the issue, according to a Foreign Ministry official. ``This is a challenging job. But the three nations must work together,'' Obuchi was quoted as saying. Perry heads the highest-level U.S. delegation to travel to North Korea during the rule of Kim Jong Il, the son of longtime ruler Kim Il Sung, who died in 1994. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and congressional delegations have visited North Korea, but no one before Perry has made an official visit representing the U.S. president. Perry is not likely to meet with the U.S. nuclear inspection team now in the North to take a look at an underground facility outside Pyongyang. Last week, the United States announced a 400,000-ton food donation for North Korea, which U.S. officials said had no connection with North Korea's willingness to accept inspectors. Under a 1994 agreement, North Korea agreed to curtail its nuclear weapons program in exchange for fuel oil for its conventional power plants and international assistance for developing new nuclear power generators, mostly from Japan and South Korea. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. 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