N. Korea, E. Timor invited

N. Korea, E. Timor invited

SEOUL (AFP): The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have invited North Korea to attend their joint assembly panel to be held later this month, the IMF's head delegate here said Monday.

The unprecedented invitation comes as the Stalinist North, isolated for decades from the world, is trying to reach out in an apparent bid to get help in overcoming its economic failures.

"We've invited North Korea and East Timor as special guests," David Coe, IMF representative to South Korea, told AFP.

The panel is to be held in Prague, Czechoslovakia, from Sept. 19-28.

"The special guests will be allowed to attend, not all, but some of the meetings to interact with other members and to familiarize with the systems (of the international financial institutions)," Coe added.

But the IMF official said it was "not correct" to relate the move to the North's possible joining of the international body.

"An IMF delegation visited the North in 1997, but it could not find out North Korea's standing on it," he said.