“Let`s Cooperate `to Build Silk Road of Iron` Between Asia-Europe“

President Kim Dae-Jung delivered a speech titled as `World Peace and Cooperation Between Korea and the European Union`, and had a summit talks with European Commission President Romano Prodi at the EU Parliament, Strasbourg, France. President Kim made a speech for the first time at the EU Parliament as a head of Asian country.

President Kim said in front of 700 participants including European Parliament President Nicole Fontaine and Parliamentary members, and European Commission President Romano Prodi and high-ranking officials of the Commission that "We Koreans will do our best to successfully host the next year`s World Cup, which, we hope, will contribute to world peace and the security of humankinds."

President Kim said, " `The e-Eurasia project`, a high-speed information network between Europe and Asia, has been progressing smoothly under the cooperation of ASEM member countries. With this, if the iron silk road, the railroad linking Korea and Europe, is completed, Asia and Europe will actually become one continent."

"Unification will come without fail." President Kim said. "As long as the Korean people ardently wish for unification, and as long as support from you and the world continues, I am firmly convinced that we will be able to unify our country in the not too distant future."

After quoting a poem from 1907 Nobel Literature Prize winner Kipling, " Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.", President Kim said that "If he was still alive today, he would have said that `East and West, West and East, and never the twain shall part." President Kim receive a great round of applause from the audience.

President Kim and President Prodi agreed to consolidate the partnership between Korea and the EU in overall matters, and to start a regular summit talks between Korea and the EU from the fourth ASEM meeting, which will be held at Denmark in September next year.

President Kim will return home today afternoon after finishing the 11-day official visit to Europe.

Yun Seung-Mo ysmo@donga.com