North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has invited President Lee Myung-bak for a summit, a senior official with the U.S. Defense Department claimed Sunday. He cited the putative invitation as an example of a change in the North toward more friendly relations with its neighbors.
The official was talking in a press briefing for journalists accompanying U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on his way to Asian security talks and a NATO conference. He did not say when Kim invited Lee and what South Korea's reaction was, but publicly announcing a delicate matter between two third countries would still appear to be unusual in international protocol.
It is unclear what invitation the official was referring to. A senior Cheong Wa Dae official said, "It's true that during a bilateral summit, President Lee and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao agreed that it would be possible to hold an [inter-Korean] summit if there is progress in inter-Korean relations."
In a meeting with Lee after attending the funeral of former President Kim Dae-jung in late August, a North Korean delegation also expressed the North's intention to improve inter-Korean relations and delivered a message from Kim Jong-il citing a possible summit, the presidential official added.
Lee on both occasions said he was willing to meet Kim "any time." But the presidential official added, “No inter-Korean summit is currently being pursued.” Another Cheong Wa Dae official cited progress in the nuclear issue as a condition for an inter-Korean summit, saying Lee was not waiting for such a summit even if the invitation came unless there is progress in the nuclear issue.
Lee Dong-kwan, the senior presidential secretary for public relations, said, "President Lee has reiterated several times that he will meet chairman Kim any time for the sake of peace on the Korean Peninsula and for the future of the nation. But he has stressed that he opposes a meeting for meeting's sake and especially that any meeting would be meaningless if it is insincere and politically or tactically motivated."