DATE=6/14/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=KOREA SUMMIT (L)
NUMBER=2-263458
BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON
DATELINE=SEOUL
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: South Korean President Kim Dae-jung has begun
a second day of talks in Pyongyang with North Korean
officials as both sides of the divided peninsula
search for common ground at their first-ever summit.
VOA correspondent Roger Wilkison reports North Korean
leader Kim Jong-il was not present at the session but
is expected to have a face-to-face meeting with his
South Korean counterpart later Wednesday.
TEXT: Reports from South Korean correspondents
travelling with Kim Dae-jung quote sources within the
South Korean delegation as saying the two leaders will
meet again on Wednesday. South Korean Vice-Minister
of Unification, Yang Young-shik, refuses to confirm or
deny the report, citing a North-South agreement not to
disclose summit-related activities until they have
actually happened. Still, Mr. Yang did not rule out
such a one-on-one meeting between the two leaders.
The South Korean news media report Kim Dae-jung is
particularly anxious to bring up the issue of families
separated by the Korean War. The South Korean
president has made reunions of such families a
priority of his North Korea policy. He is hoping that
some kind of agreement on the question will come out
of the summit.
The matter was brought up in Kim Dae-jung's talks
Wednesday morning with a North Korean delegation
headed by Pyongyang's number two official, Kim Yong-
nam. But there is no word on North Korea's reaction.
Optimism about possible breakthroughs between the two
longtime adversaries is running high following Kim
Jong-il's warm welcome of Kim Dae-jung on Tuesday.
Lee Jung-hoon, a professor of international relations
at Seoul's Yonsei University, says he thinks both
sides are willing to compromise somewhat and that Kim
Dae-jung will not come away from the summit empty-
handed.
/// LEE ACTUALITY ///
We are anticipating, perhaps, some sort of a
breakthrough on the family reunion issue, which is
something that hits the core of tens of thousands of
Koreans on both sides, really. I think economic
cooperation will be another issue that will be very
thoroughly discussed, and perhaps some sort of sub-
level follow-up discussions will be held. I think the
one-million dollar question here (the main issue),
however, is whether the visit will be reciprocated.
Will Kim Jong-il come to Seoul?
/// END ACTUALITY ///
Kim Dae-jung wants his North Korean counterpart to
visit Seoul as part of what he calls the need for a
sustained North-South dialogue that would gradually
lessen tensions and build trust between the two sides.
On Tuesday, virtually every major news organization in
South Korea reported that the two sides had agreed to
install a so-called hot line to contact each other
during their sporadic military confrontations. But,
on Wednesday, Vice-Minister Yang knocked down those
reports.
/// YANG ACTUALITY (IN KOREAN) ///
He says the need for such a hot line has been raised
with the North but that nothing has been finalized.
The South Korean delegation in Pyongyang has declined
to confirm another report that the two sides are close
to establishing representative offices in each other's
capital.
One South Korean official says any announcement on
even such minor confidence-building issues will
probably have to wait until the summit ends on
Thursday. (signed)
NEB/HK/RW/JO
14-Jun-2000 02:14 AM EDT (14-Jun-2000 0614 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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