hi--
an interesting development. California Rep. Lantos is going to N Korea to work for peace there. He is an interesting figure. A man who knows war all to sorrowfully well is going to a nation always eager for it. high praise for lantos...
art
Rep Lantos Flies to North Korea for Talks
1 hour, 31 minutes ago Politics - Reuters
BEIJING (Reuters) - A U.S. Congressman began a four-day visit to North Korea (news - web sites) on Saturday, with talks to focus on the North's
"I anticipate meeting with North Korean officials, discussing the issue of their nuclear program, and hopefully, their reintegration into the international community and human rights matters," Democratic Representative Tom Lantos (news, bio, voting record) of California told reporters in Beijing before flying to North Korea.
A separate group of U.S. lawmakers led by Republican Curt Weldon will also visit North Korea next week.
While the visits are not part of official efforts aimed at dismantling the North's nuclear programs, they are supported by the White House, a South Korean official said on Friday.
"I am going to do my utmost to see if we can move the North Korea relationship with our partners Japan, South Korea (news - web sites), China, and Russia closer to a constructive path," Lantos said.
The visits come after a year of slow-moving negotiations involving six countries aimed at dismantling the North's nuclear programs, punctuated with harsh rhetoric aimed mainly at the United States from Pyongyang.
The two Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia have met for three rounds of six-way nuclear talks, but the North boycotted the fourth round -- planned before the end of September -- because of what it said was a U.S. "hostile policy."
North Korea also criticized the congressional visits as "useless" in a commentary on the state-backed Web site Uriminzokkiri (http://www.uriminzokkiri.com), but analysts said Friday the fact that the North had agreed to the visits at all signaled a willingness to talk.
South Korean experts said this was particularly true in the case of the visit by Lantos, who was one of the sponsors of a U.S. law aimed at promoting human rights in North Korea.
The law enacted in October earmarks $24 million a year to bolster human rights in North Korea and also allows North Korean refugees to seek political asylum in the United States.
Pyongyang has said the law was proof of Washington's intent to destroy the communist state's political system.
Lantos is expected to return to Beijing on Tuesday.