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