Inter-Korean Summit Delayed to October

The second inter-Korean summit talks scheduled for August 28-30 were postponed to October 2-4 yesterday.

Cheong Wa Dae and the government failed to conceal their embarrassment and were trying to find out the North’s real intentions behind the delay, and are devising measures to cope with the situation.

At 09:20 a.m. on August 18, in a telephone call to the director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) Kim Man-bok by the North’s director of its United Front Department Kim Yang Gon, North Korea requested that President Roh Moo-hyun delay his visit to Pyongyang until after the beginning of October, saying that heavy flood damage was the reason.

In addition, the North asked the South Korean government for relief supplies and materials to repair through the contact between South and North Korean offices at the border village of Panmunjom.

The South decided to accept the North’s offer after an urgent committee meeting at 2:00 p.m. and informed the North that a date of October 2-4 would be acceptable, considering President’ Roh’s schedule. North Korea reportedly consented to the government’s suggestion.

Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Cheon Ho-seon said yesterday, “There is much unfounded talk about the delay, but there seems to be no other intention behind the North’s asking for the delay. The North’s telephone notification sounded very desperate and serious about flood damage,” and added that the government can prepare for the inter-Korean summit more substantially with the extra time.

Leader of the Grand National Party (GNP) Kang Jae-sup implied that the summit might have been postponed for the presidential election, saying, “I’m worried that the summit meeting could have postponed not because of downpours in North Korea, but because of other reasons.”

As the inter-Korean summit won’t be held until after the beginning of October, it is inevitable that the Korea-U.S. summit talks set to be held at the end of September in Washington will be rescheduled. Some forecast that should the Korea-U.S. summit takes place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit scheduled to be held at the beginning of September, it will replace the regularly scheduled summit talks between Korea and the U.S..

The planned visit by a 35-member delegation led by Vice Unification Minister Lee Kwan-se tomorrow was canceled. The schedules of the meeting with advisers and a gathering with businessmen for the summit, set to be held at Cheong Wa Dae, will also be rescheduled.

Meanwhile, considering the scope of the flood damage, the government decided to provide the North with 7.1 billion worth of relief supplies such as necessities and medicines by land starting on August 23.

Unification Minister Lee Jae-jeong stated yesterday, “North Korea accepted the government’s decision to promptly transfer the aid supplies by an overland route. The government will send the supplies after acquiring approvals from the National Assembly and the inter-Korean exchange and cooperation promotion committee.” Lee added, “Korea NGO Council for Cooperation with North Korea (KNCCK) asked the government to help its business as a matching fund so we are considering giving it 3 billion won in financial aid.”

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