Kim leaves for U.S. to attend millennium summit

President Kim Dae-Jung will leave for New York Tuesday afternoon with First Lady Lee Hee-Ho to attend the United Nations Millennium Summit, which will be held September 6-8 at the U.N. Headquarters.

President Kim will solicit the international community`s support for the inter-Korean summit talks in his keynote speech during the session, which will be attended by the top leaders of 163 countries.

He will also affirm Korea`s determination to contribute to enhancing the role of the United Nations in the 21st century in his speech, officials said.

Shortly after his arrival in New York Wednesday morning (Korean Standard Time), Kim will hold talks with Kim Yong-Nam, chairman of the Standing Committee of the North Korean Supreme People`s Assembly, to evaluate the progress in inter-Korean relations following the June 15 Joint Declaration and discuss the future development of bilateral ties. Kim will also have a series of summit talks with world leaders attending the U.N. forum Thursday and Friday to discuss potential methods of cooperation for peace and stability on the Korean peninsula after the June inter-Korean summit. The leaders include President Bill Clinton of the U.S., Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Russian President

Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Joran Persson of Sweden, the sole Western country which has established an embassy in Pyongyang.

The President will be officially accompanied by Foreign Affairs-Trade Minister Lee Joung-Binn, Senior Presidential Secretary for Economic Affairs Lee Ki-Ho, the Senior Presidential Secretary for Diplomacy and Security Affairs Kim Ha-Joong, Presidential Spokesman Park Joon-Young and others.