Unless it's an image of the latter bear-hugging Bill Clinton. Even that spectacle is now a possibility following the American president's watershed meeting last week with Kim Jong Il's right-hand man, Vice Marshal Jo Myong Rok. U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has already accepted an invitation to visit Pyongyang. Events are moving at a breakneck pace on the Korean peninsula. They have watershed implications not only for the Koreas and the U.S., but also for neighboring powers like China, Japan and Russia.
Many loose ends remain in the relationship between the U.S. and North Korea.
Jo hinted as much during his U.S. talks, but his government must offer something concrete in return. That could be pledges to stop its missile-development plans and deport some terrorists. The North-South thaw has produced a groundswell of positive sentiment in Korea, bitterly divided for so long. But the two sides' quickening diplomatic dance with the U.S. could also play on their rivalry. Now the U.S. is grabbing the initiative, with the cooperation of North Korea's leader.