Kim meets with six heads of delegation Saturday

President Kim Dae-Jung held a string of summit meetings with individual leaders of ASEM member countries on Saturday as the Asia-Europe Meeting Seoul wound up. They were four European leaders including Dutch Prime Minister Bim Kock, European Union executive council chairman Romano Prodi, and Brunei Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah. Kim discussed with his counterparts developments on the Korean peninsula and other matters of bilateral concern. The Korean and Dutch leaders agreed to develop sustained and substantial ties in the fields of commerce and investment as last year the Netherlands became one of the major investors in Korea, second only to the United States.

During his meeting with Prodi, President Kim gave a positive evaluation on inter-Korean rapprochement following the summit meeting of the leaders of the two Koreas. Also he appealed for a continuous partnership with European Union members for peace and stability on the Korean peninsula through increased normalization of relations with North Korea and expanded economic aid to the North so as to foster Pyongyang as a responsible member of the world community.

The President met separately with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guteres, Luxemburg Premier Jean Krode Yungker and Irish Prime Minister Berti Erhun to explore joint efforts to boost economic cooperation and to bring North Korea out into international society.