Korea, U.S. likely to hold summit next month

South Korea and the United States on Wednesday agreed to hold a summit between Presidents Kim Dae-Jung and George W. Bush at the earliest time to discuss their North Korea policies and other pending issues.

The agreement came at the talks between Korean Foreign Affairs-Trade Minister Lee Joung-Binn and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in Washington, D.C., the first meeting of its kind under the new U.S. administration of President Bush.

In a meeting over breakfast at the conference room of the U.S. Department of State that lasted about one and a half hours, Lee and Powell confirmed the need to maintain a close partnership and cooperative system in dealing with North Korea between their countries.

They also shared the view that the U.S. supports the South Korea engagement policy toward North Korea. They accordingly agreed to form a high-level consultative body to discuss foreign policies of their countries on a regular basis.

The two sides released a joint press statement containing these agreements after the talks.

¡°The agreed consultative body will be operated fully as soon as the congressional confirmation hearings of the appointments of officials above the level of assistant secretaries of state, and the summit talks will be held toward the middle or end of March unless unexpected circumstances take place,¡± a Seoul government official said.

In the talks, the U.S. side supported the South Korean government¡¯s North Korea policy, welcomed the latest development in inter-Korean relations and evaluated it positively and expected much of the summit talks to be held soon, the official said.