North Korea has reportedly invited Bill Clinton, the former US
president, to visit the Communist country to mediate between Washington
and Pyongyang, which have been engaged in a spiralling war of words over
recent months.
The overture appeared to be the latest signal that North Korea is
considering a resumption in dialogue with the US, which named the regime
among an "axis of evil" rogue states suspected of developing weapons of
mass destruction.
Kim Jong-il, reclusive leader of the military regime, requested a visit
from Mr Clinton to reduce tension and "end the rhetoric" between the two
countries, according to Reuters.
The news agency, quoting a North Korean official, said Mr Clinton could
play a similar role to Jimmy Carter, another former Democrat president,
who visited Pyongyang in 1994 to help resolve a dispute over nuclear
weapons.
US and South Korean officials in Seoul said they had no knowledge of
the invitation and its credibility was unverified.
A US diplomat said any visit by Mr Clinton would be in a private
capacity rather than as a government representative. Washington was
stillwaiting for Pyongyang to accept its longstanding offer of
inter-governmental talks, he said.
Relations between the US and North Korea, enemies during the Korean and
Cold Wars, improved during Mr Clinton's regime, reaching a high point when
Madeleine Albright, then the secretary of state, visited Pyongyang in
October 2000.
Mr Clinton came close to making his own visit but ran out of time
before his presidency ended.
Engagement between Pyongyang and Washington came to a grinding halt
when George W. Bush replaced Mr Clinton in the White House last year and
adopted a tougher approach to North Korea.
Tensions have increased as Washington has extended its war against
terrorism to include rogue states suspected of developing weapons of mass
destruction.
North Korea refused Mr Bush's demand for inspectors to be allowed into
its nuclear facilities to verify whether the regime had kept its 1994
promise to halt weapons development.
Diplomats welcomed the invitation to Mr Clinton as a sign of North
Korea's desire to avert conflict with the US, but said it underlined
Pyongyang's continued hankering for the former president and its failure
to accept the need to build a new relationship with the Bush
administration.
The surprise resumption earlier this month of inter-Korean dialogue and
a North Korean statement that it was prepared to revive talks with the US
have raised hopes that Pyongyang could be emerging from isolation.
Nearly 100 elderly South Koreans on Monday held a second day of
reunions with North Korean family members they had not seen since the
border was sealed at the end of the Korean War in 1953.
The event was part of Seoul's "sunshine" policy of inter-Korean
reconciliation.
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