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Speakers at Gwangju events include Kim, Roh, Gorbachev
President Roh Moo-hyun expressed his support for Nobel Peach prize laureate and former president Kim Dae-jung’s visit to Pyongyang, planned for sometime this month.
"Many events have happened between the two Koreas, but the mainstream [move toward] reconciliation is something that we cannot turn around," Roh said at the opening of events in the southwestern city of Gwangju marking the sixth anniversary of former president Kim’s historic meeting with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang.
"Former president Kim’s planned visit to the North would further contribute to inter-Korean relations," President Roh added. The remarks came amid ongoing talks on the former president’s visit to the communist state later this month for a second meeting with the North Korean leader Kim. The summit in 2000 was the first of its kind since the 1950-53 Korean war, which ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty. Events marking the summit’s sixth anniversary were attended by 700 people, including the former president and Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Russian president. "The division of the Korean Peninsula resulted from a legacy of the cold war between two superpowers," former president Kim said, referring to Russia and the United States. Former Russian president Gorbachev also called on the North to give up its nuclear weapons programs on condition that the U.S. guarantees security for Pyongyang. Wrapping up the two-day event, the participants will hold a press conference early on Saturday to issue a declaration calling for each side to work toward easing tension and seeking democratization and peace in the world, organizers said.
