The second ever summit between the two Koreas looked strained today when the South's president Roh Moo-hyun snubbed an invitation to stay in Pyongyang another day and said North Korea still did not trust its neighbour.
But Seoul insisted the talks between Mr Roh and the North's reclusive leader Kim Jong-il had been a success and they would issue a statement by lunchtime tomorrow.
"The leaders met twice today in the morning and afternoon. We believe there was sufficient and honest dialogue. The president said the result of the talks was satisfactory," presidential spokesman Chon Ho-seon told reporters in Pyongyang. He did not elaborate.
Earlier, the communist state's leader invited Mr Roh to stay on until Friday, saying it would allow the two men, who have never met before, to hold more relaxed and substantive talks.
No reason was given for the rejection but a South Korean spokesman later quoted Mr Kim as telling Mr Roh at the end of their meeting: "We have had sufficient dialogue so it (another day) may not be necessary. You have people waiting in the South so let's do it as we had planned."
Mr Roh earlier told reporters he had felt a "wall, hard to tear down" in the talks.
"(The North) does not completely trust South Korea. To actively proceed with the things we want to do, we need to overcome this wall of mistrust," a South Korean media pool report quoted him as saying.
He cited Pyongyang's dissatisfaction with the speed of development of an industrial park run by the South in Kaesong, a former royal capital just north of the border between the two Koreas, which remain technically at war and divided for more than 60 years.
Before driving north yesterday, Mr Roh had said the purpose of the summit was to ease tensions and help his impoverished communist neighbour. Yet his first encounter with a dour Mr Kim in Pyongyang yesterday did not augur well.
It was a far more affable North Korean leader who turned up today ahead of formal talks, television footage showed.
Film-buff Mr Kim's face lit up when he saw gifts from Mr Roh: a painted room screen, high quality tea and a collection of DVDs that included a drama about a royal court cook starring one of Mr Kim's favourite South Korean actresses, Lee Young-ae. Though a crime for ordinary North Koreans to watch films from the South, they made an ideal gift for the leader.