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.