RI ready to help ease Korean tension

RI ready to help ease Korean tension

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri offered North Korea her
assistance to help ease mounting tension between the two Koreas
and to resume dialog with its southern rival.

Megawati accompanied by foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda, gave
the offer to visiting North Korean deputy leader Kim Yong-Nam
during their talks at the State Palace here on Thursday.

"As a good friend, Indonesia offered to help in the effort to
revive dialog between the two states toward reunification of
North and South Korea and also toward resolving the conflict in
that region," Wirayuda told reporters after the talks.

He said that security and stability in the Korean Peninsula
and East Asia would be a positive contribution to the entire
region.

Kim's visit is a follow-up to Megawati's trip to Pyongyang in
March. During that visit, in which she met Kim Yong-Nam and Kim
Jong-Il, Megawati urged North Korea to resume dialogue with the
South and delivered a message from South Korean President Kim
Dae-Jung.

Indonesia has good bilateral ties with both Koreas.

Kim Yong-Nam, who along with his 45-member entourage arrived
on Wednesday afternoon, was here for a three-day visit.

Kim, the ceremonial head of state of the reclusive Stalinist
nation, was given a red-carpet welcome to Indonesia on the first
full day of his visit.

He was greeted at the presidential palace by a 21-gun salute
and a military honor guard.

A band played the national anthems of both countries and about
100 schoolchildren in the palace grounds waved Indonesian and
North Korean flags.

The visit was made amid fresh tension between the two Koreas
after a battle at sea on June 29, that killed dozens of sailors
from both countries.

The incident had forced Seoul to reshuffle its cabinet on
Thursday, as the North accused South Korean warships of
unlawfully entering its waters.

During her March visit to Pyongyang, Megawati played the role
of a broker for the dialog as she brought the message from Seoul
to Pyongyang.

Indonesia, Hassan said was in a unique position as it had
close relations with the two Koreas and Megawati had a personal
relationship with President Kim Jong-Il's family since 1964.

"President Megawati has the reassurance from Kim Yong-Nam that
the North is committed to the reunification efforts in a free and
peaceful manner," Hassan said.

The two leaders saw the signing of a memorandum on the
avoidance of double taxation and cooperation in science and
technology, with noise from an old camera belonging to the North
Korean official photographer slightly disturbing the ceremony.

Kim is also scheduled to hold meetings with high-ranking
Indonesian officials, such as Vice President Hamzah Haz, People's
Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais and House of
Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung.

The North Korean leader is also scheduled to meet Megawati's
sister Rachmawati Soekarnoputri in her capacity as chairperson of
the Indonesia-North Korea Friendship Association.

He is scheduled to visit Bogor Palace and Bogor Botanical
Gardens, before continuing his foreign trip to Tripoli, Libya.