Clinton Speaks Plainly During His Korean Visit : Firm reminder for the North, reassurance for the South

The most important words spoken by President Clinton when he met with President Kim Young Sam in South Korea this week were a pledge that the United States “will not negotiate a separate peace with North Korea” and his reaffirmation that “the Korean people are going to have to make peace for themselves.”

That unambiguous restatement of policy notifies Pyongyang that its unceasing efforts to lure the United States into bilateral negotiations on the future of Korea will continue to be rebuffed. It also reassures an edgy South Korea that Washington respects its lead role in any peace process that might develop on the long-divided peninsula.

Clinton sought to leave no doubts in any mind about where the United States stands in relation to the two Koreas. If he failed, it wasn’t for lack of plain speaking.

This was the background for the president’s proposal for peace talks between the two Koreas under joint U.S.-China sponsorship, an idea, as he acknowledged, that originated with President Kim. Details are lacking, but it’s evident that a key purpose is to bring North Korea into the kind of face-to-face negotiations with South Korea that it has for so long refused to consider.

Past North-South contacts to explore such matters as family reunification meetings have been rare, fractious and brief. Pyongyang’s line has always been that South Korea is simply Washington’s puppet, so it would talk only to the United States about transforming into a full peace the armistice that halted the Korean War 43 years ago.

None of this mattered much during the decades of North Korea’s self-imposed isolation. But now uncertain internal political conditions, the end of the Cold War, a collapsing economy and Washington’s interest in heading off a suspected North Korean drive to make nuclear weapons have led Pyongyang to explore its limited openings to the outside world, especially the United States. Whether North Korea is hurting enough to put aside its relentless antipathy toward South Korea and to try to reach a stable peace agreement remains to be seen. Given the North’s history, skepticism is not out of order.

How serious is the Clinton-Kim initiative? By proposing a sponsoring role for China, a co-belligerent in the 1950-53 Korean War, the initiative seeks to assure Pyongyang of political balance in any negotiations. By excluding Russia--which has already protested--and Japan, the proposal keeps the responsibility for reaching a feasible agreement on the two Koreas. No early answer is anticipated. Meanwhile, Clinton has taken the necessary and proper step of underscoring the affinity of U.S. and South Korean views. Pyongyang should note and remember that.