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National Intelligence Service chief Kim Man-bok meets with Kim Yang-gon, the director of the United Front Department of North Korea's Workers' Party, in Pyongyang in early August to discuss the second inter-Korean summit.
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President Roh Moo-hyun is to visit Pyongyang for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on Aug. 28-30, Seoul and Pyongyang announced simultaneously on Wednesday morning. A South Korean government official said the two will likely have their first tete-a-tete on Aug. 29.
In a press conference at Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday, National Intelligence Service chief Kim Man-bok revealed that he visited North Korea as a special presidential envoy twice -- on Aug. 2-3 and Aug. 4-5 -- to co-sign the summit agreement with Kim Yang-gon, the director of the United Front Department of North Korea's Workers' Party. According to the government, the spymaster delivered a personal letter from Roh to Kim Jong-il during his second visit.
Seoul first proposed a meeting between the two intelligence chiefs in early July, and Pyongyang accepted on July 29, the government said.
According to presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-seon, Roh cited four agenda items for the summit in a session of the National Security Council at Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday morning -- denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, peace between the two Koreas, arms control, and economic cooperation. Roh called for a "creative and comprehensive approach."
The two leaders will likely hold extensive talks on Seoul's economic support for Pyongyang and inter-Korean cooperation, as well as issues on the agenda of six-nation denuclearization talks such as the disablement of North Korea's nuclear facilities, replacement of the armistice that still officially halts hostilities on the peninsula with a peace agreement, and a four-way summit with the U.S. and China. It remains to be seen whether the South Korean government¡¯s mooted social overhead capital support for North Korea will be on the agenda.
There were several voices of concern on Wednesday given that the summit comes before the North has committed itself to a timetable for dismantling its nuclear program, and given that potentially long-term decisions at the summit will be made by a president with only some six months left in office and could burden Roh¡¯s successor. Experts stress the summit should focus above all on the dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear facilities.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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