N. Korea visit advantage for peace

N. Korea visit advantage for peace

JAKARTA: Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Marty
Natalegawa said on Friday that the upcoming visit of the North
Korean ceremonial head of state would have a positive impact on
the efforts to reconcile the two Koreas.

The visit of Kim Yong Nam, speaker of the North Korean Supreme
People's Assembly, was a mark of appreciation by North Korea for
Jakarta's peace efforts.

"We were given the role at the request of both countires and
the visit is certainly a positive response from Pyongyang to
Indonesia," Marty said.

Kim Yong Nam, scheduled to arrive here on July 10 for a three-
day visit, will be the communist state's highest-ranking leader
to visit Indonesia since the early 1960s.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri in March payed a visit to
South Korea and then North Korea, to which she brought a peace
message from South Korean President Kim Dae Jung urging the
revival of dialog between the two Koreas.--JP