Japan's Special Olympians were all over the news Feb. 16 thanks to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spending some time with them in Tokyo taking pictures.In a photo from AFP, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets Japanese athletes of the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Tokyo on February 16, 2009. Clinton -- the first American top diplomat in half a century to start her job with an Asia trip -- praised US ties with the region after arriving in Japan Monday.
The AP reports that most of her discussion while in Japan was about threats from North Korea:
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton talked tough on her first overseas trip as America's top diplomat, delivering a sharp warning to North Korea on Tuesday over its threat to conduct a missile test.
As she wound down a long day of official events in Tokyo before preparing for the next leg of her Asia tour in Indonesia, Clinton said North Korea's threatened missile test would harm its prospects for improved relations with the United States and other neighbors.
"The possible missile launch that North Korea is talking about would be very unhelpful in moving our relationship forward," she said, adding that if Pyongyang wants to end its isolation, it would have to act on pledges made to previous Bush administration negotiators to scale back its nuclear weapons efforts."
The decision as to whether North Korea will cooperate in the six-party talks, end provocative language and actions is up to them and we are watching very closely," Clinton said, referring to North Korea's continuing talks with the U.S. and four other major nations over efforts to nudge the North to abandon nuclear weapons.