The admiral's assessment dovetails with Washington's history of aggression toward the workers state. Despite a flurry of diplomatic meetings, which included a trip by then-secretary of state Madeleine Albright to Pyongyang in October, the Clinton administration ended talks with the north Korean government three months before leaving office. President George Bush has maintained the freeze on talks with the north. This approach has placed Washington at odds with the course of southern president Kim Dae Jung, who has pressed for closer cross-border ties. In contrast with U.S. policy, a number of European powers have recently opened diplomatic relations with Pyongyang.

Washington maintains some 37,000 heavily armed troops in south Korea, nuclear weapons, and the naval force commanded by Blair. The arsenal at the disposal of south Korea's half-million-strong army includes missiles designed to strike targets throughout the north.

Despite the U.S. government stance, contacts arranged during unification talks last June between Kim Dae Jung and north Korean president Kim Jong-Il have for the most part proceeded.

In the most recent event, Pyongyang was the site of a consultative meeting between religious councils of the north and south. According to the north Korean news agency, the meeting adopted a joint agreement in favor of closer ties, and condemned attempts by "Japanese reactionaries" to justify and whitewash Tokyo's brutal occupation of Korea in the first half of the last century.

A recent cabinet reshuffle by Kim Dae Jung showed that Seoul is not backing off its pursuit of closer ties. In particular, the appointment of Lim Dong-won to the position of unification minister, reported the south Korean news agency Yonhap, "can be construed as an attempt...to systematically push pending inter-Korean issues.... Lim has been leading inter-Korean relations behind the scenes."

Kim's simultaneous attempt to avoid further antagonizing Washington was underscored by his replacement of foreign minister Lee Joung-binn. In the words of the March 27 Financial Times, Lee "provoked a flap with the U.S. after Seoul issued a joint statement with Russia last month that implied that South Korea was critical of the [National Missile Defense] plan." The south Korean government afterwards denied any such implication.

Lee also stated in a March 23 address to the Korea Press Foundation that "during the consultations to prepare for the [March 7] Korea-U.S. summit, the United States asked us to agree to their plan to promote the National Missile Defense System." Seoul remains officially neutral on the "missile shield," which represents a push by Washington to gain a nuclear first-strike capability.

Bush, like Clinton before him, has justified the antimissile plan by claiming that north Korean missiles pose a threat to the United States. In preparing a review of the U.S. armed forces, for example, Pentagon officials and Congresspeople "say that the nation's ability to fight major wars on two fronts acts as a...deterrent to potentially hostile states like North Korea," according to the New York Times.

As part of its efforts to win broader diplomatic ties, investment, and trade, the north Korean government hosted officials from Britain, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand in recent weeks, according to the Times. From December to March, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Luxembourg, and Greece established diplomatic relations with north Korea. The European Union plans to send a high-level delegation over the coming months, and a number of major European firms have begun sounding out investment opportunities, particularly in the areas of electricity generation and transmission.

"Many European diplomats have sought to play down their differences with Washington--while pursuing a starkly contrasting policy," towards north Korea, according to the Times.

"We want very visibly to show that we support the process of closer engagement between the two Koreas," said British diplomat Antony Stokes in Seoul.

Pyongyang has welcomed these wider ties while not backing down in face of continued U.S. government hostility. Criticizing Bush's demand for "verification and checking" of any future missile deal, the government stated that such a policy "is in essence aimed at completely disarming us."  
 
 
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