On Trip to Asia, Clinton Focuses on Economy and North Korea

[Coventina]

Source: New York Times

TOKYO — As Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in Japan on Monday, her first foreign visit as secretary of state, she reaffirmed the “cornerstone” alliance between Washington and Tokyo and declared that “we have to work together to address the global financial crisis, which is affecting all of us.”

Mrs. Clinton stepped from her plane on a blustery, cold evening to begin a trip that has been rattled by dismal economic news in Japan and reports that North Korea may be preparing to test a ballistic missile. She spoke at an airport arrival ceremony.

With the Japanese government reporting on Monday that its economy shrank at the sharpest quarterly rate since 1974, the financial crisis is sure to figure high on Mrs. Clinton’s agenda, not just in Japan, but in Indonesia, South Korea, and China, which she will visit later in the week.

Security concerns also bubbled up as the North Korean government threatened on Monday to launch a long-range missile which its neighbors believe has the range to reach United States territory.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/washington/17diplo.html?ref=world