President Kim leaves for Oslo, to have interview with BBC

President Kim Dae-Jung and First Lady Lee Hee-Ho will arrive in the Norwegian capital of Oslo Friday, where Kim will be awarded this year`s Nobel Peace Prize.

In an interview with BBC-World, scheduled to take place at the Grand Hotel upon his arrival, Kim is expected to give his thoughts on the prize and on current developments on the Korean peninsula.

The award ceremony, slated for 9 p.m. (Korean time) Sunday, is to be broadcast live worldwide by several networks, including the CNN of the United States.

The president was seen off at Seoul Airport in Songnam Friday morning by a crowd of over 700 well-wishers. Among them were National Assembly Speaker Lee Man-Sup, Prime Minister Lee Han-Dong, Millennium Democratic Party chairman Suh Young-Hoon, Acting President of the United Liberal Democrats Kim Chong-Hoh and Grand National Party (GNP) secretary general Kim Ki-Bae, who came in place of GNP president Lee Hoi-Chang.