Replies

JIM LEHRER: What's the state of intelligence on the missiles and what North Korea has, what threat they pose to Asia and even to the United States?

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT: I think we have pretty good intelligence on it that obviously I can't discuss, but....

JIM LEHRER: A serious problem?

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT: Well, I think we have thought we had a problem with their potential of the nuclear programs and through the agreed framework that we worked out in '94, we were going to freeze their fissile material programs. And now we have had a missile test moratorium with them for the last months. And we want to now make sure that we can significantly reduce the threat in a more permanent way.

JIM LEHRER: And you came away after these 12 hours with Kim believing that he wants... he will do that?

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT: Well, this is what we have to test. I mean, I think that the information on him was kind of scattered, and it wasn't until Kim Dae Jung went and said that he had some very important discussions with him and found him to be somebody that he could talk to, that was rational, pragmatic. I found the same thing. Basically, you know, we've had such weird stories about him, but it turns out that we had very good discussions.

JIM LEHRER: Where did those stories come from, that he was an irrational man who you could never have the kind of conversation you just did?

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT: Well, I think this is a hard thing to assess, Jim. I think that it's conceivable that there were periods that this was what he was like. But it has been six years since his father has died. He is in charge of what is called kind of a hermit kingdom. And we had... he listened very carefully. He didn't lecture me. I went through all my talking points with him. And he gave rational answers. And he seems pragmatic. Now, I think that he clearly has some very serious economic issues, and I think it's worth us probing and testing. I made a big point of saying that these glasses that I have are not rose-colored. And I've spent my whole life studying communist systems, so I know what we're dealing with. But I think it's really worth exploring.

JIM LEHRER: Did he seem informed about the United States and the rest of the world?

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT: He did seem informed. He also told me he had three computers in his office. He watches a different television network -- and stays informed. He says that he reads....

JIM LEHRER: Does he watch CNN?

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT: CNN. He said he did. And I did find him informed. We talked about regional issues. I can't say I kind of gave him a test, but we did have pretty wide-ranging discussions.

http://216.239.51.100/search?q=cache:-gDFVX8FqAcC:www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/international/july-dec00/albright_10-30.html+Madeleine+Albright,+Kim+&hl=en&ie=UTF-8