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President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il have agreed to hold the second inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang between Aug. 28 to 30, the governments of two Koreas announced on Wednesday.
"The second inter-Korean summit will serve as a stepping stone for the establishment of a peace framework on the Korean Peninsula through frank discussions on the issue by the two leaders,¡± presidential chief secretary for security affairs Baek Jong-chun said in a press conference at 10 a.m. ¡°At the summit, the two leaders will also discuss new initiatives to raise inter-Korean economic ties and exchanges in terms of both quality and quantity."
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Baek Jong-chun, chief presidential secretary for security affairs, center, talks to the media during a press conference as Unification Minister Lee Jae-jeong, left, and Kim Man-bok, head of the National Intelligence Service, listen at the presidential house in Seoul, South Korea on Wednesday./AP
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Baek said agreement between the two governments came last Sunday. "With the second summit, a foundation for regular inter Korean summits should be established,¡± he added
North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency also announced at the same time that according to an agreement, ¡°President Roh will visit Pyongyang from Aug. 28 until Aug. 30." The two Koreas are to hold a working meeting in preparation of the summit in the North Korean border city of Kaesong.
The opposition Grand National Party criticized the timing and venue of the summit and the method by which it was arranged. "We are deeply concerned that the government is pushing ahead with a second inter-Korean summit through behind-the-scenes procedures and just a few months ahead of the presidential election," GNP spokeswoman Na Kyung-won commented.
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A soldier walks past a large TV broadcasting news about a summit between North and South Korea, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul on Wednesday./AP
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"The question is whether holding a summit between the two Koreas now is appropriate. This inter-Korean summit is highly likely to be a trick to prevent the opposition from taking power by creating a political stir before the election."
But Na added any summit held for the sake of giving the ruling camp an advantage in the opinion polls would backfire. She warned the summit must secure transparency and legitimacy in the agenda through public consensus or risk being seen as a murky deal with suspicions of free handouts for North Korea.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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