| Credit Bill for an insight on this one; he might be right. |
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea's combative behavior is a symptom of the political turmoil inside the country, former President Bill Clinton said Monday, urging the United States and South Korea to be careful not to overreact.
Clinton called North Korea's recent actions "disruptive conduct" related to concerns over political infighting and the health of its leader, Kim Jong Il. "Whenever people who have power in a closed society have any concerns about losing it, things tend to be degenerating to the lowest possible denominator," Clinton said during a question-and-answer session after a speech to open a conference on the global economy.
But the former president — whose wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, is now secretary of state in the Obama administration — urged the U.S. and South Korea to avoid "totally reacting" to the North's every move.
| Of course that's true. We should also avoid under-reacting, and at all costs avoid making another deal in which we give away oil, food and diplomatic cover in exchange for promises that are sure to be broken. |
Clinton's visit to South Korea, where he will also speak at a conference on climate change, comes after North Korea's defiant launch last month of a rocket that drew censure from the United Nations. The North, in turn, threatened to carry out more such launches and even a nuclear test. The regime also has stoked tensions with South Korea, announcing Friday that it was canceling what it calls "preferential" contracts for South Korean companies operating in a joint factory complex in North Korea.
North Korea said last week that it plans to try two American journalists accused of illegal entry and "hostile acts" on June 4. Euna Lee and Laura Ling, reporters for former Vice President Al Gore's San Francisco-based Current TV media venture, were detained March 17 near the China-North Korea border while reporting on North Korean refugees living in China.
Clinton did not give specific examples of North Korean conduct and made no mention of the journalists.
Clinton said that North Korea had been "on the verge of adopting a different development model" at the end of his second term in office. He expressed confidence it is possible for the country to become a part of the international community. "In the end, I still believe there has to be a way to bring the people of North Korea into the modern world economically and politically," Clinton said.
| I think he's trying to avoid taking the blame for the fact that his administration was one of several to be snookered by Kimmie. |
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