Leaders of Koreas meet
Wednesday, 3 October 2007
SEOUL, Oct 2 (AP): North Korean leader Kim Jong Il welcomed South Korea's president to Pyongyang displaying scant enthusiasm Tuesday while orchestrated crowds cheered the start of the second-ever summit between the divided Koreas since World War II.
The greeting was a stark contrast to the first North-South summit in 2000, when Kim greeted then-South Korean President Kim Dae-jung with smiles and clasped both his hands tightly in an emotional moment that softened the North Korean strongman's image to South Koreans and the world.
This time, Kim appeared reserved and unemotional, walking slowly and occasionally clapping lightly to encourage the crowd of thousands at the outdoor welcome ceremony, who waved red and pink paper flowers. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun appeared to revel in the moment, waving and smiling broadly before reviewing a goose-stepping North Korean military honor guard wielding rifles with bayonets.
Roh has said his goal at the summit is fostering peace between the North and South, which remain technically at war since a 1953 cease-fire halted the Korean War. But he has not given any specifics about what he will propose or get in return, prompting criticism from conservatives at home that the summit is an ego trip for Roh seeking to establish a legacy for his unpopular administration that ends in February.
Earlier during the 125-mile journey by road from Seoul, Roh stepped out of his vehicle to walk across the border that divides the Koreas in the centre of the heavily fortified Demilitarised Zone - the first time any Korean leader has crossed the land border. In the first summit between the Koreas in 2000, the South's Kim flew to Pyongyang.
The greeting was a stark contrast to the first North-South summit in 2000, when Kim greeted then-South Korean President Kim Dae-jung with smiles and clasped both his hands tightly in an emotional moment that softened the North Korean strongman's image to South Koreans and the world.
This time, Kim appeared reserved and unemotional, walking slowly and occasionally clapping lightly to encourage the crowd of thousands at the outdoor welcome ceremony, who waved red and pink paper flowers. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun appeared to revel in the moment, waving and smiling broadly before reviewing a goose-stepping North Korean military honor guard wielding rifles with bayonets.
Roh has said his goal at the summit is fostering peace between the North and South, which remain technically at war since a 1953 cease-fire halted the Korean War. But he has not given any specifics about what he will propose or get in return, prompting criticism from conservatives at home that the summit is an ego trip for Roh seeking to establish a legacy for his unpopular administration that ends in February.
Earlier during the 125-mile journey by road from Seoul, Roh stepped out of his vehicle to walk across the border that divides the Koreas in the centre of the heavily fortified Demilitarised Zone - the first time any Korean leader has crossed the land border. In the first summit between the Koreas in 2000, the South's Kim flew to Pyongyang.