N Korea postpones summit over deadly floods
Sunday, 19 August 2007
SEOUL, Aug 18 (AFP): North Korea on Saturday asked to postpone this month's summit with South Korea because of devastating flooding which has left over 300 people dead and sparked a food crisis in the communist state.
"North Korea asked for the summit to be put off until early October in consideration of the urgency of efforts to recover from floods," South Korean presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-Seon told journalists.
South Korea proposed holding the summit on October 2-4 in Pyongyang, and the North quickly accepted the new dates, Cheon said.
In a brief dispatch, the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the South had "expressed profound sympathy" for its plight following the deadly floods, confirming that the summit would be held on October 2-4.
The summit between South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, only the second ever between the two Koreas, had been scheduled for August 28-30 in the North Korean capital.
The isolated communist state is struggling to recover from the deadly floods which have also left around 300,000 people homeless and destroyed vital crops and farmland.
"North Korea asked for the summit to be put off until early October in consideration of the urgency of efforts to recover from floods," South Korean presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-Seon told journalists.
South Korea proposed holding the summit on October 2-4 in Pyongyang, and the North quickly accepted the new dates, Cheon said.
In a brief dispatch, the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the South had "expressed profound sympathy" for its plight following the deadly floods, confirming that the summit would be held on October 2-4.
The summit between South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, only the second ever between the two Koreas, had been scheduled for August 28-30 in the North Korean capital.
The isolated communist state is struggling to recover from the deadly floods which have also left around 300,000 people homeless and destroyed vital crops and farmland.