Posted July. 04, 2001 10:57,
Rep. Lee Han-Ku of the Grand National Party said yesterday that ``when North Korea’s Rhodong Shinmun reported on the `North-South Joint Declaration` marking the first anniversary of the South-North summit talk on June 15, it deleted the part that mentions the return visit to South Korea by Kim Jong-Il, North Korea’s National Defense Commission Chairman, which appears in the last part of the 6.15 declaration.`` Rep. Lee insisted that ``North Korea is not interested in the Kim Jong-Il’s return visit to South Korea, and his return visit is unlikely to be realized.``
When Rhodong Shinmun reported on the South-North Joint Declaration during the South-North summit talk last year, it stated that ``President Kim Dae-Jung courteously invited Kim Jong-Il National Defense Commission Chairman to Seoul, and Chairman Kim decided to visit Seoul at an appropriate time.`` However, Rhodong Shinmun deleted this part on June 15.
Meanwhile, Japan’s right wing newspaper Sankei Shimbun, reporting this on June 26, said that ``it is worth noting that the Rhodong Shinmun deleted this part during a time when Chairman Kim’s return visit is a pending problem.``