South Korea President Kim Dae-jong left Seoul at 9 a.m. local time today for a threeday summit in the North Korean capital Pyongyang, which could have far-reaching implications for the future of the Korean peninsula.
At the airport children sang a reunification song popular on both sides of the Cold War frontier, and President Kim asked people to "Please pray for me and for my safe trip". He said he would discuss with the leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kim Jong-Il, issues of national security, economic assistance, North Korea's opening up and separated families. The summit gets under way after a mysterious delay of 24 hours.
While Seoul is in a fever of excitement, the citizens of the North Korean capital have yet to be told of the historic event about to take place in their midst. No announcement has been made about President Kim's time of arrival or of a summit programme, according to a report from North Korea.
Fifty South Korean journalists will accompany President Kim, but no foreign reporters will be allowed except for resident correspondents of the Russian news agency, Itar-Tass, the Chinese Xinhua news agency, and China's People's Daily.
The summit is the first since the Korean Peninsula was partitioned more than half a century ago.
Seoul was swept by rumours yesterday about the reason for the summit delay, announced in a telephone call from Pyongyang on Saturday evening and attributed to technical problems. They ranged from problems over television transmissions and security concerns to anger in Pyongyang over publication in Seoul of details of the itinerary.
President Kim's assistant press secretary, Mr Yoon Sock-joong, said: "We believe it's a technical problem linked to the poor quality of live broadcast tests from Pyongyang a few days ago." But he did not rule out the possibility that Pyongyang's security concerns could also have prompted the postponement.
The two parts of Korea have remained formally at war since the end of the Korean War in 1953. A North Korean official confirmed last night to Itar-Tass that the summit was on. Emotions are running high in Seoul over the unprecedented event, which has brought to the surface a suppressed passion for unity.
South Korea's National Assembly last night held a candlelight meeting to pray for the success of the summit and for reunification. It was organised by legislator Mr Kim Young-jin, who said: "All 70 million people of Korea share the single hope that the summit meeting will be a success."
President Kim will be flown directly to Pyongyang, only 180 km north-east of Seoul but accessible before now only via Beijing. He will return on Thursday by road through the once-impenetrable demilitarised zone. The leaders will have two private meetings, and one with a full complement of officials, and will also get together at a welcoming banquet and possibly an end-of-summit dinner, a spokesman for President Kim said.
A senior government official said that Pyongyang was upset about the publication of President Kim's itinerary. "The South Korean media released too many reports, mostly based on speculation, on the President's schedule, including where he will stay, which places he will visit and who he will meet, and even his transportation methods," he said.
North Korea yesterday announced a mourning period until June 16th for former president Hafez al-Assad of Syria, a staunch ally through several decades.
Assad was "a close friend of the Korean people who exerted sustained efforts for developing the friendly and co-operative relations between the peoples of our two countries", Mr Kim said.
--Additional reporting AFP