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To: sandintoes who wrote (1568)	11/1/2000 12:38:09 PM
From: KLP	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1719

Wouldn't want this guy as a neighbor either: Albright: I Was Ambushed in N.Korea washingtonpost.com By George Gedda Associated Press Writer Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2000; 1:06 a.m. EST WASHINGTON –– Secretary of State Madeleine Albright says she was "absolutely" uncomfortable last week when she accompanied North Korean leader Kim Jong Il to an acrobatic and dance exhibition in Pyongyang that extolled the glories of Kim and his uncompromising communist regime. Albright has never shown much regard for communists but seemed to be enjoying herself as she sat next to Kim while the performers went through their paces with more than 100,000 looking on at an outdoor stadium. Her presence at the show in the North Korean capital and her demeanor has raised eyebrows in some press circles, and Albright has been trying to set the record straight. In effect, Albright says she was ambushed. She told a television interviewer Monday night that Kim surprised her by inviting her to a meeting with him just hours after her arrival. During their meeting, according to Albright, Kim said, "I want to take you to a show." Under such circumstances, she said, "It's a little hard to say no." So, not long afterward, the woman who has spent much of her life studying and opposing communist regimes found herself in the midst of an unabashed communist celebration that included wild applause for Kim and his one-party state. To the extent that she was spellbound by the proceedings, Albright said it was because of the precision of the performers – and not their message. Albright made it clear from the outset that her visit to North Korea was aimed at weaning the North Koreans away from their missile program. Democracy and human rights were secondary issues. Her top adviser for human rights, Harold Koh, accompanied her but had no separate meetings with North Korean officials. Human rights is an issue the Clinton administration has soft-pedaled with North Korea despite Pyongyang's reputation as one of the world's most rigid communist states. Of particular concern are the country's prison camps, which are thought to house an estimated 200,000 inmates. Much of what the outside world knows about the camps is based on the testimony of those who have escaped – inmates and at least one prison guard. Ahn Myong-chol worked as a guard at several prison camps. At one, he says inmates scheduled for execution were placed under heavy rocks, attracting cows, hawks and wild pigs. "I've seen what remains of bodies after the animals feast on them," he says." At another camp, inmates worked at a coal mine as part of a forced labor campaign. There was an inmate hospital nearby but Ahn says it almost never had drugs. The standard treatment for victims of crushed limbs was amputation – without anesthesia. "To silence the patients screams, rags often would be stuffed in their mouths," he says. Attack dogs assigned to prison camps are trained to kill, Ahn says. "It is considered nothing to feed an inmate to the dogs," he says. All this is deplorable but the absence of trust between Washington and Pyongyang prevented a serious discussion of these issues since contacts began six years ago. Officials say the rights issue was touched on in a non-confrontational way three weeks ago when Jo Myong Rok, a top aide to Kim, visited Washington. Jo's visit precipitated a possible reciprocal trip to North Korea by President Clinton later this year. The sensitivity of the human rights issue became apparent last year when the State Department vetoed a Voice of America editorial on North Korea's prison camp system. The commentary was based largely on the congressional testimony of Ahn and others with knowledge of the prison camp system who had escaped. The State Department felt the editorial was inappropriate because U.S. officials at the time were about to head into sensitive talks with North Korean officials on security issues. But now that the relationship is at a more mature stage, U.S. officials are expected to be less circumspect about the issue. Albright says she has no illusions about the regime, telling reporters in Pyongyang, "The glasses I am wearing are not rose-colored." ––– EDITOR'S NOTE – George Gedda has covered foreign affairs for The Associated Press since 1968. ––– On the Net: State Department on Korea: state.gov–notes/north–korea–0696–bgn.html © Copyright 2000 The Associated Press