By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton warned North Korean leader Kim Jong-il that his nuclear program will lead to further isolation, a report said Thursday.
Clinton made the remarks during his talks with Kim in Pyongyang, Tuesday, American television network ABC reported.
The former president, meanwhile, briefed top security officials at the White House on his North Korea trip which brought two detained journalists home, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
Gibbs, however, did not elaborate on the briefing, saying a more formal and in-depth debriefing will be conducted soon.
``We are going to get a fuller briefing,'' the spokesman said. ``We are trying to coordinate schedules.''
Instead, he noted that Pyongyang must show a different attitude to ease tensions that have mounted due to its recent nuclear test and missile launches.
``If they would like to see a greater international breakthrough, then they just have to come back to live up to the responsibilities that they entered into,'' he said.
He continued, ``We are going to continue to ensure that we take actions to enforce recently passed Security Council resolutions to ensure there is not the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.''
ABC said a source who attended the White House briefing said that Clinton had conveyed to Kim the same message he tried to express through the 1990s.
The message was that ``North Korea's nuclear program will not make that country safer and more secure, but rather will continue to lead to further international isolation,'' the report said.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that the former president discussed a range of issues in the three-hour talks with Kim and told him that North Korea could gain benefits if it released detained South Korean and Japanese abductees.
Robert Wood, deputy spokesman of the U.S. Department of State, did not confirm the report, stressing Clinton was there on a ``private humanitarian mission.''
``He may have had some discussions about various issues with the North Koreans,'' he said. ``I don't have any details on any of those conversations.''