North Korea, South Korea to hold June summit

April 10, 2000
Web posted at: 8:59 AM HKT (0059 GMT)

In this story: Meeting is without precedent South Korean elections imminent RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

SEOUL, South Korea -- Long-time rivals North Korea and South Korea will hold a historic summit from June 12-14, a South Korean official confirmed.

CNN's Seoul Bureau Chief Sohn Jie-Ae reported that South Korean President Kim Dae-jung will visit North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in North Korea's capital Pyongyang. The formal announcement was made by South Korean officials during a news conference Monday morning.

The agenda for such a meeting would likely include economic assistance and investment and holding reunions of families separated when war broke out on the peninsula a half-century ago.

AUDIO CNN's Seoul bureau chief Sohn Jia-ae comments on the summit talks 429k/37 sec. AIFF or WAV sound     RESOURCES TIME: 'North Korea Has to Work With Us' TIME: Verdict On Kim Asiaweek: Evaluating Kim Asiaweek: The (Korean) Art of Politics as Usual

Sohn reported that it is too difficult at present to say what agreements, if any, could come out of the meeting. There have been limited talks between the sides in the past.

However, she said there has been a surge in private-level relations between the north and south since Kim Dae-jung came to power, and there has been some speculation this type of interaction will continue to grow.

Meeting is without precedent

The Cold War rivals have never held a leaders' summit. The last high-level talks between the nations -- in 1991 -- led to the signing of a "basic agreement" on improving ties, which has never been implemented.

The two Koreas remain officially at war, as their 1950-53 conflict ended with an armed truce that never has been replaced with a peace agreement.

Officials in North Korea have criticized Seoul in the past for maintaining a close alliance with the United States. However, the north has accepted limited aid from the south to help it cope with a famine.

South Korean elections imminent

It was believed the announcement, just days before Thursday's general election in the south, would provoke outrage from the South Korean opposition. The government has been hinting for days that it was nearing agreement on reopening talks with the north.

North Korea is in the midst of a diplomatic offensive in an apparent effort to end its Cold War isolation and revive an economy left prostrate by famine and the dissolution of the former Soviet-led Communist block.

North Korea and Japan last week held their first talks in seven years about normalizing ties. The meetings ended inconclusively, but both sides agreed to talk again, probably next month. North Korea has also been holding talks about normalizing ties with the United States.

The United States, Japan and South Korea have been coordinating their positions with regard to North Korea, with Tokyo and Washington both urging Pyongyang to improve ties with Seoul if it wants better relations with the rest of the world.

Seoul Bureau Chief Sohn Jie-Ae, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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