Pro-NK paper in Japan predicts Kim Jong-Il visit Seoul this year

Chosun Shinbo, the organ of the general federation of pro-North Korean residents in Japan, has reported that North Korean National Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong-Il is expected to visit South Korea this year and that his visit would provide decisive momentum for closer inter-Korean ties.

The newspaper said in its Jan. 1 edition that Kim's visit to the South this year, coming on the heels of last June's inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang, would usher in a crucial phase for peace and unification efforts on the Korean peninsula.

The paper asserted that the Korean people, which suffered colonial rule in the first half of the 20th century and suffered the pain of national division in the latter half of the century, are now equipped with "unwavering will for unification that transcends differences in their thoughts, ideologies and government systems."

It also stressed that in order to provide decisive momentum for unification, the historic South-North Korea Joint Declaration must be faithfully implemented.