Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung leaves after a weekly briefing at government house in Seoul on Thursday. /AP

The governemnt wants President Roh Moo-hyun and his entourage to travel overland to Pyongyang for the second inter-Korean summit later this month. Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung on Thursday said Seoul will ask North Korea to agree. Lee was chairing the first meeting of a government taskforce preparing the planned summit. He suggested that preparatory talks for the summit should be held in the North Korean border city of Kaesong on Aug. 13.

Lee told reporters he expects the North to accept the proposal given that New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson recently visited North Korea by the overland route. While Lee did not elaborate, the most likely option is the reconnected Gyeongui railway linking Seoul and Shinuiju in the North, which had a symbolic test run in May. Some commentators speculate that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il would come down to Kaesong to meet Roh for a visit to the inter-Korean Industrial Complex there.

For the historic first inter-Korean summit in 2000, president Kim Dae-jung flew to Pyongyang by a direct air route over the West Sea and North Korean leader Kim greeted him at Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang.

Asked if the two Koreas will discuss the agenda for the summit at the preparatory meeting, Lee said the principles for discussions should be set first and the two sides have yet to talk about the agenda. The first working meeting of the two sides will deal with the size of delegations, the schedule, transport and the dispatch of an advance team, he said. The three-man South Korean side will be led by Vice Unification Minister Lee Kwan-se.

(englishnews@chosun.com )