2nd summit aims to end cold war on Korean peninsula

The government hopes to ease tensions and bring an end to the decades-long standoff on the Korean peninsula by building mutual trust between South and North Korea and concluding a peace treaty during the second inter-Korean summit in Seoul. The follow-up to the historic June summit between South Korean president Kim Dae-Jung and North Korea leader Kim Jon-Il is expected to take place during the first half of this year.

President Kim said Thursday that the second South-North summit should produce tangible results through sufficient advance consultations between the two sides.

Accepting a report on Unification Ministry`s plans for this year, President Kim said the goals of the summit are the alleviation of tensions, putting an end to the cold war here and establishing exchanges and cooperative ties beneficial to both sides.

He added that the North Korean leader¡¯s visit to Seoul "would surely materialize within the year and that we should make ourselves fully prepared for the visit without undertaking things too hastily.¡¯¡¯

" We have to pool our wisdom in setting the targets and direction that South and North Korea should jointly pursue in the scheduled summit, while keeping an eye on the distant future,¡¯¡¯ the President said.

In light of this, the government plans to promote the resumption of the four-way talks for the conclusion of a South-North peace treaty and produce inter-Korean agreements on exchanges of military personnel, installation of military hotlines and prior notice about military drills in the defense ministers¡¯ and military working-level talks.

Meanwhile, Unification Minister Park Jae-Kyu told reporters after presenting his report to the President, "We need three months to prepare for the (second) summit, compared to two months for the first round of talks.¡¯¡¯

Asked about the date of the second summit, Park said that since the North does not make public Kim Jong-Il`s schedule, the government would announce the date about a month before the talks take place.