Indonesia n president to broker inter-Korean peace
Indonesia n president to broker inter-Korean peace
Agencies Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri is expected to adopt the role of peacemaker when she holds a landmark summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il next week, South Korean officials said on Monday.
Megawati is scheduled to make a three-day visit to South Korea from March 30 after her trip to Pyongyang, the office of South Korean President Kim Dae-jung said.
"During her North Korea trip, President Megawati is expected to carry a message calling for an early resumption of dialogue with South Korea and the United States," the office said in a statement, as quoted by AFP.
This will be the first trip to the communist North by an Indonesian head of state since Megawati's father, Sukarno, visited in 1964.
In Seoul, Megawati will brief the South Korean leader on her talks with Kim Jong-il, who suspended inter-Korean talks since US President George W. Bush took office last year.
(Bush escalated tensions on the Korean peninsula recently when he called North Korea part of an "axis of evil." The language embarrassed the South Korean president by jeopardizing his reconciliation efforts with the reclusive Kim Jong-il.)
Relations between Indonesia and North Korea, both members of the non-aligned movement, date back to Sukarno's 1964 trip to Pyongyang.
North Korea has since used its embassy in Jakarta as a regional base for Southeast Asian diplomacy.
After his North Korean trip, Sukarno announced an idea to set up a political alliance between Jakarta, Phnom Penh, Pyongyang and Beijing, as part of the new emerging forces' fight against neo-colonialism.
Megawati first saw Kim Jong-il in 1955, when he accompanied his father, Kim il-Sung, for the Bandung conference of non- aligned countries.
She was then a student who presented flowers to the late North Korean president at the airport, and performed a traditional dance before the two Kims at a banquet, Seoul newspapers said.
In 2000, North Korea held photo exhibitions and movie shows to celebrate the anniversary of Kim Jong-il's trip to Jakarta.
The Korean trip will be part of Megawati's first overseas visit of the year, which will also take her to China and India.
Megawati will depart for China on March 24, one day earlier than originally planned, to accommodate the schedule of Chinese President Zhiang Jemin.
The summit will take place upon Megawati's arrival, according to Indonesian Ambassador to China, A.A. Kustia.
Megawati's trip will end in India, where she will stay for four days, beginning April 1. The President is scheduled to fly home on April 5.