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Banish fear of war: South Korea

PYONGYANG, June 13 (Reuters) — South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung said today he hoped his unprecedented visit to North Korea would banish the long shadow of war from the divided Korean peninsula and pave the way for eventual reunification.

In a banquet speech at the end of the first of three days of talks, Mr Kim also expressed the hope that the summit would ease the reunion of more than one million families divided by the border that has split Korea for half a century.

“It is my desire that, through this visit, 70 million Koreans will be able to be liberated from the fear of a possible war,” the official English translation of Mr Kim’s prepared remarks said.

Family reunions were becoming increasingly urgent with the passage of time, the President said.

“Many of the family members are passing away due to their advanced age we have to attend to their life-long wishes.”

Mr Kim Dae-Jung admitted that there was a mountain of tasks facing the two Koreas, and they had to be tackled practically, one at a time, taking the easier issues first.

“We have to explore the areas that will benefit both sides.”

Mr Kim suggested, for example, reopening blocked road and rail connections and opening new sea lanes and air routes between the Capitalist South and secretive Communist North.

“When that happens, all Koreans will be able to travel freely between the two sides and work toward reconciliation, cooperation and eventual reunification,” he said.

By working together, the two neighbours — technically at war since an armed truce ended the Korean war in 1953 — had a chance not only to contribute to peace and stability in north-east Asia but also to send a message that would echo around the world.

“History has awarded glory to those nations that choose reconciliation and cooperation rather than distrust and confrontation,” the South Korean leader said.

SEOUL (AP): Clapping for each other and holding hands, the leaders of South Korea and North Korea exchanged hopes that they can end hostilities on the divided Korean peninsula in a historic meeting on Tuesday.

The three-day summit started with a surprise welcome by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il at the airport on the outskirts of Pyongyang where his southern counterpart President Kim Dae-Jun arrived to an elaborate reception.

“The world is closely watching us. Why President Kim came to North Korea and why I accepted is a question mark,” Kim Jong Il, one of the world’s most reclusive leaders, said later in a meeting with his counterpart.

“We have to give the answer to this question during the two nights and three days,” South Korean pool reports quoted him as saying. “I ask not only President Kim but also (accompanying) ministers to make contributions to this.”

At the airport, Mr Kim Jong II stepped forward to shake hands with the southern leader at the foot of the plane and the two smiled and clapped for each other. The reception included a military band goose-stepping soldiers and women dressed in traditional, billowing Korean gowns.

The two leaders then rode in the same limousine into the North Korean capital, where an estimated 600,000 people lined block after block of broad avenues, waving bouquets of pink paper flowers. The spectators appeared to direct their emotion at Kim Jong II, whose name they chanted in unison as the motorcade passed through the city of 2 million.

It was an unexpectedly warm start to the first meeting between the heads of the two Koreas since they were divided following World War II, a summit that offers the greatest hope for peace on the Korean peninsula in more than 50 years.

The two Kims “sometimes held hands in a show of personal intimacy” and exchanged views in the limousine during a 40-minute ride to Pyongyang, said Park Joon-Young, South Korea’s presidential spokesman.