Clinton urges N. Korean leader to seize reform
AFP3 hrs agoUS Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday appealed to North Korea's young leader to embrace reforms, saying he had the chance to go down in history by ending the state's long isolation.
Three days after Kim Jong-Un delivered his first public speech, Clinton said it was too early to judge the intentions of the little-known leader in his late 20s but voiced guarded hope in light of his exposure to the outside world.
Asked in a CNN interview if she had a message for Kim, Clinton said: "As a young man with your future ahead of you, be the leader that can move North Korea into the 21st century.
"Educate your people, allow the talents of the North Korean people to be realized. Move away from a failed economic system that has kept so many of your people in starvation," she said.
"Be the kind of leader who will be remembered for the millennia as the person who moved North Korea on a path of reform. And you have the opportunity to do that," Clinton said.
Kim took over the world's only communist dynasty in December after the death of his father Kim Jong-Il. North Korea last week defied global pressure by going ahead with what it called a failed satellite launch, but which the United States believes was a disguised missile test.
Clinton, who was interviewed during a visit to Brussels, said she still hoped that Kim Jong-Un would not follow his father's path of "provocative behavior."
Noting that Kim Jong-Un has lived overseas, Clinton said that the new strongman "may have some hope that the conditions in North Korea can change."
"It's hard for us to tell right now -- is this the way it will be with this new leader or does he feel li! ke he ha s to earn his own credibility in order to have a new path for North Korea?" Clinton said.
Kim Jong-Un is believed to have studied in Switzerland where he learned German and English, giving him at least an element of understanding of the West that is unusual for a North Korean.
The United States on February 29 reached an agreement with North Korea in which it would deliver food aid to the impoverished country, but Washington suspended the plan after Friday's launch.
North Korea has threatened retaliation over the international uproar, raising speculation that it will test a nuclear bomb for the third time.
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