Kim Jong Il and the 50,000 Tons of American Grain
A "virtually flawless" diplomatic performance in June 2000 masked a transactional rebranding of a recluse dictator, kept confidential for years.
By Constance Bell ·
Kim Jong Il
US Embassy Warned Kim Jong Il Fooled South Koreans Before 2000 Summit
Kept secret for years, a cable shows how a few meetings in Beijing blinded a population to the DPRK threat and put the US security role in jeopardy.
By Constance Bell ·
Kim Jong Il promised Albright a "first and last" satellite launch
The North Korean dictator admitted his economy was in ruins and promised an end to satellite launches in a December 2000 exchange that remained hidden for years.
By Eleanor Voss ·
Stapleton Roy warned Albright: North Korean thaw is an old survival tactic
US officials were misled by a 2000 diplomatic thaw that Stapleton Roy argued was a calculated return to survival tactics the Kim regime had deployed since the 1980s.
By Theo Marchetti ·