Kim meets with Asia-Pacific leaders to discuss S-N issue

President Kim Dae-Jung held a series of summit talks on Wednesday with U. S. President Bill Clinton, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the eighth Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference being held in Brunei. Kim and the leaders exchanged views on inter-Korean relations and other issues of mutual concern.

At the Kim-Clinton summit, the two leaders shared the view that in order to establish a lasting peace on the Korean peninsula, a peace mechanism should be constructed incorporating the Two-Plus-Two formula, under which South and North Korea will conclude a peace treaty independently and China and Russia will support it, presidential spokesman Park Joon-Young said.

U.S. President Clinton was quoted as saying that he would decide on his visit to Pyongyang based on the North Korean attitude toward its missile program and other issues.

In Kim¡¯s earlier meeting with Russian President Putin, the two leaders reached a consensus on the strengthening of tripartite cooperation among the two Koreas and Russia in linking the Kyongui Railway with the Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR) and mutual collaboration in the development of Russia¡¯s Irkutsk gas field and Nakhodka industrial complex. In particular, the Russian president promised to visit Seoul sometime next spring.

In the President¡¯s talks with Japanese Prime Minister Mori, the two leaders agreed on the Japanese effort to improve relations with Pyongyang and to further strengthen tripartite coordination among Seoul, Tokyo and Washington.

During the Kim-Jiang talks, President Kim expressed gratitude for Beijing's support for the improvement of inter-Korean relations and asked the Chinese leader to visit Seoul. In response, the Chinese president pledged to play a necessary role in building peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and praised Kim's effort for North Korea¡¯s entry into the APEC.

Meanwhile, at the APEC meeting, which opened on Wednesday and will close on Thursday, the 21-member body discussed ways to boost knowledge-information exchanges and multilateral trade systems. Member nations are expected to issue a joint summit declaration on the outcome of the two-day conference, including a pledge of support for the development of inter-Korean relations, on Thursday.