http://english.yna.co.kr/Engnews/20050603/630000000020050603153737E3.html
N. Korea elated by Bush's use of "Mr." for Kim Jong-il
By Kim Kwang-taeSEOUL, June 3 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Friday that it will closely watch whether U.S. President George W. Bush's recent use of "Mr." when he refers to its leader Kim Jong-il means a shift in Washington's "hostile" policy toward it.
North Korea has reacted angrily whenever Bush and other U.S. officials criticized its leadership and system, vowing not to rejoin stalled six-nation talks on its nuclear weapons program.
But on Friday, the North held out the prospect of improvement in its relations with the United States, saying that "We take note of this (the use of Mr. by Bush).""If Bush's remarks put an end to the scramble between the hawkish group and the moderate group in the U.S., which has thrown the Korean policy into a state of confusion, it would help create an atmosphere of the six-party talks," a spokesman for the North's foreign ministry said in a report carried by the North's Korean Central News Agency.
The spokesman, whose name was not identified in the KCNA report, said a softened U.S. stance toward his communist country's leadership and system could help reopen the six-nation talks which have been stalled for almost a year.The spokesman specifically demanded that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice retract her earlier description of North Korea as an "outpost of tyranny," a demand already rejected by Rice."If the U.S. truly wants a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue, it should make a bold decision to withdraw the remark 'an outpost of tyranny' to remove the biggest hurdle lying in the way of resuming the six-party talks," the North's spokesman said.
Some experts said the North may be looking for an excuse to return to the negotiating table."North Korea for sure has the intentions to come out for the six-way talks," Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korean affairs professor at Seoul's Dongguk University, said. "They are now appealing to U.S. leaders not to eliminate the minimum available conditions for dialogue."Earlier this year, Bush denounced the North's leader as a "tyrant" who starves his people. In April, Bush again attacked him, calling him a "dangerous person" who operates "huge concentration camps." North Korea countered by vilifying Bush as a "hooligan" and a "philistine."In Friday's statement, the North's spokesman referred to Bush as "president" and avoied any derogatory comments on him.
There is no clear sign that Bush has changed his negative view of the North's leader. But at a White House news conference on May 31, Bush called Kim using "Mr." and said he believed that diplomacy would produce a breakthrough in the 32-month nuclear impasse.As late as Thursday, North Korea vowed to stay away from the dialogue table, taking issue with U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's description of its leader as "one of the world's most irresponsible leaders."The North retaliated by calling Cheney "the most cruel monster and blood-thirsty beast" who "has drenched various parts of the world in blood."Three rounds of six-nation talks, which include the two Koreas,the Untied States, China, Japan and China ended without a breakthrough. A fourth meeting, scheduled before the end of last year, did not take place due to a North Korean boycott.
This pretty much supports my theory that the regime in the North simply wants respect. It will join ANY group that will let it in (namely the non-alligned movement) and for the most part it just wants to be recognized as something other than "that goofy state". The South has succeeded in "getting whole world" to acknowledge it, now the North is wanting the same.
Too bad they think that outlandish statements will do the trick.
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