Rice says does not know if North Korea leader Kim Jong-il is sane

Reuters ^ | June 14, 2005

[HAL9000]

Rice says does not know if N.Korea's Kim is sane

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Monday she did not know whether North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was sane, a remark that could anger Pyongyang's unpredictable ruler.

Asked if she thought Kim was sane during an interview with MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews," Rice replied: "I don't know. I've never met the man." The interview was taped on Monday and was to be broadcast on Tuesday.

The United States last week raised expectations North Korea might resume six-way talks seeking to end its suspected nuclear weapons programs. It reported that North Korean officials said they would come back to negotiations but had not said when.

The talks between North and South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan have been on hold for a year because of the North's boycott. Meanwhile, the poor, reclusive state has boasted it possesses nuclear weapons.

North Korea is acutely sensitive to what U.S. officials say about it. On June 3, a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman offered rare praise to President George W. Bush for his having referred to the North's leader as "Mr. Kim Jong-il."

The spokesman suggested the comment might improve the atmosphere for holding the six-party talks.

A senior State Department official said while North Korea had not yet committed to a date, there was optimism about a new round of nuclear talks because "the atmospherics were good" when U.S. and North Korean officials met in New York last week.

"They did not make any demands on us. They did not refuse to come to the talks," he said, briefing reporters anonymously.

He acknowledged that "until we have a date, we don't have talks," but insisted the New York session was "a constructive meeting where they clearly indicated their desire to return."

Pyongyang was "trying to figure out how to get back," he said.

Reflecting U.S. warnings the North may be planning a nuclear weapons test, the official said Washington had had a "lot of very necessary discussions (with its partners) about what to do if there is a test," but he gave no details.

Asked about the North's March 21 statement that six-party talks must deal with U.S. as well as North Korean nuclear weapons, the official said, "We don't have nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula."

He said the statement seemed to suggest that Pyongyang, which in February declared itself a nuclear power, was trying to shift the six-party focus from persuading the North to abandon its nuclear programs to an arms control negotiation involving U.S. weapons.

The official ruled out a demand Washington state its willingness to live in peaceful coexistence with the North.

"We don't want to be reduced to a circus animal doing an act, being told to jump through various hoops or whatever at the behest of the North Koreans," he said.

"We have told them really all they need to know ... which is we have no intention to attack or invade, we do not question their sovereignty," he added.

Bush met for about 40 minutes in the Oval Office on Monday with Kang Chol-Hwan, who spent time in a North Korean prison camp and wrote the book, "The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years In The North Korean Gulag."

"The president read the book, it is a compelling story. The president is very concerned about the human rights situation in North Korea," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

The author is now a journalist in South Korea.

[isom35]

dont know about sane, but he is verrry rone-ree...

[SevenofNine]

HEY TG is what you refer

TOO FUNNYYYY

Chia Pet insane LOL!

Rack Condi

[SevenofNine]

Hey tiger do you think reason why Condi said this because Kim Jong 11 is leaving drunk dirty message on her answer machine

I THINK SO LOL!!

I think Kim is mistaken her as Maddy not Too bright

[OXENinFLA]

Interview With Chris Matthews of MSNBC's Hardball


QUESTION: I'm not sure what it is. Do you think Kim Jong-Il is a sane man?

SECRETARY RICE: I don't know. I've never met the man.

QUESTION: Is he is a responsible leader?

SECRETARY RICE: I have to say that anyone has to say that the people of North Korea have not prospered under this regime. They've suffered under this regime. You're talking about malnutrition rates that have led to literal height and weight differentials that are dramatic between the South Korean population, which is well-nourished, and North Korean population that is not. The sad thing is that while the North Korean regime seeks nuclear weapons, its population is still totally dependent on food aid to try and deal with its malnutrition. The good thing is that if the North Koreans chose to come back to the six-party talks, they could significantly improve the well-being of their people because there are all of the states of the six-party talks willing and ready to help them on this score. Even without that, the United States has been a huge provider of food assistance to North Korea. So there are ways for North Korea to take advantage of what is being offered, they just have to give up their nuclear weapons program.

[AmericanInTokyo]

I don't know. I've never met the man.

Funny!

[little jeremiah]

"that wretched old bag of suet"

EXCELLENT! You, sir, are a poet.