South Korea's Presidential Office said Saturday that the second Inter-Korean Summit, originally set for Aug. 28-30, will be postponed to Oct. 2-4 under a request of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
The DPRK sent a telephone message to the Kim Man-bok, chief of South Korea's National Intelligence Service this morning, and requested to postpone South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun's visit to Pyongyang from late August until early October due to its urgent task to recover from heavy flood damage, Roh's spokesman Cheon Ho-seon said at a news briefing.
DPRK said in the message that it has endeavored to make President Roh's upcoming Pyongyang visit a success but is now faced with a more urgent task of recovering from its flood damage and stabilizing the people's livelihood, Cheon told reporters.
The South Korean government decided to accept the request and proposed to hold the summit on Oct. 2-4 in Pyongyang after convening an emergency meeting, Cheon said.
"The North (DPRK) said its attitude toward the inter-Korean summit, as well as the previous inter-Korean agreements on summit procedures and protocol, would remain unchanged," the spokesman stressed.
The South Korean government will deliver relief assistance to DPRK as soon as possible to help the country recover from the flood, the spokesman said.
According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), DPRK's official news agency, heavy downpours hit the DPRK's capital city and six of the country's nine provinces on Aug. 4, leaving more than 46,580 houses destroyed or damaged, and over 300,000 people affected.
South Korea announced on Friday that it will send 7.1 billion won (7.5 million U.S. dollars) worth of emergency aid to the DPRK within next week to help DPRK to recover from the damage by heavy rains.
The assistance will include noodles, bottled water, powdered milk, blankets and medicine, South Korean Unification Ministry said on Friday.
South Korea and DPRK announced on Aug. 8 that South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun plans to visit Pyongyang on Aug. 28-30 to hold a summit with DPRK top leader Kim Jong-il. The two sides agreed on Tuesday that Roh will make an overland trip to Pyongyang on the road linking Seoul and Pyongyang.
Source: Xinhua
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