President to join U.N. Millennium Summit

President Kim Dae-Jung and First Lady Lee Hee-Ho will depart September 5 to attend the United Nations Millennium Summit at the U.N. Headquarters in New York and will return September 10, according to an August 23 press release from Chong Wa Dae spokesman Park Joon-Young.

For the four-day summit starting September 6 for the adoption of a new direction of coordination for the new millennium, 164 heads of state of the 188 member nations are expected to attend.

President Kim will hold a bilateral meeting with North Korean Head of People`s Commissariat and Ceremonial Head of State Kim Young-Nam on the first day of the summit to exchange opinions on the current inter-Korean relationship, as well as on events made possible by the June 15 Joint Declaration such as the inter-Korean ministerial talks and the reunions of separated families.

President Kim also plans to hold consecutive summits with four or five principal nations including U. S. President Bill Clinton, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The constituents of the summits are expected to discuss the situation on the Korean peninsula following the inter-Korean Summit and the actual strengthening of the amicable collaborative relationship.

By holding the first summit with the North`s Kim Young-Nam, President Kim is expected to display to the international community the current peace and cooperation between the two Koreas.

Choi Young-Mook ymook@donga.com