Clinton calls for N. Korean cooperation

NEW YORK (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, making her first major policy speech, urged North Korea on Friday not to take any “provocative” actions that could undermine peace efforts.

Amid press reports that North Korea might be preparing a long-range missile test, Clinton pledged to hold the communist regime to its commitments to give up its nuclear programs in return for international aid and political concessions.

“We will need to work together to address the most acute challenge to stability in northeast Asia: North Korea’s nuclear program,” she said.

Clinton spoke to New York’s Asia Society on the eve of a trip to visit China, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea — her first as secretary of state — and noted that their major economies and huge populations will be critical to turning around the global financial crisis.

She declared that President Barack Obama’s administration is “ready to work with leaders in Asia to resolve the economic crisis that threatens the Pacific as much as any other region, ready to strengthen our historic partnerships and alliances while developing deeper bonds with all nations.”

She also sought to reassure Japan, the top U.S. ally in the region, on one of its top concerns, promising to meet with the families of Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s.

Climate change will be another diplomatic priority, Clinton said, especially because of China’s fast-growing industries.

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