With the Second South-North Korea Summit a dozen days away, the two Koreas have reached a tentative
agreement on South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun's itinerary in North Korea, officials at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae and the Unification Ministry said Friday.
The broad outline of Roh's North Korean itinerary from Oct. 2 to 4 and the selection of accommodation for the South Korean delegation have been finalized, though the list of North Korean places to be visited by the president and his entourage has yet to be drawn up, said the officials.
In the early morning of Oct. 2, the South Korean presidential sedan carrying Roh and first lady Kwon Yang-sook, accompanied by about 200 attendants in about 30 buses, will depart for Pyongyang via the western section of the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas.
The South's motorcade will travel for about three hours on the North's expressway linking its border town of Kaesong to the capital Pyongyang. Pundits have speculated that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il may greet Roh at the entrance of Pyongyang.
But Roh's spokesman Cheon Ho-seon told reporters that North Korean leader Kim has no plan to come out to personally greet Roh.
"The North has notified us that its leader won't show up at the entrance of Pyongyang to greet Roh," Cheon said in his daily media briefing. "Instead, we heard that Kim Yong-nam will greet Roh on the outskirts of Pyongyang."
Kim Yong-nam, North Korea's titular head of state who holds the post of chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, is the North's second-most senior leader after Kim Jong-il.
During the First South-North Korea Summit in June 2000, the North Korean leader personally traveled to Pyongyang's Sunan International Airport to greet then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who arrived by presidential jet.
Around noon, Roh and his entourage will enter downtown Pyongyang with an expected warm welcome from hundreds of thousands of citizens lining the streets before arriving at the Paekhwawon State Guest House, chosen as the official accommodation for the president and the first lady.
Roh will then visit the Mansudae Assembly Hall in the afternoon to hold talks with Kim Yong-nam.
Cheon said it still remains unclear whether North Korean leader Kim would hold talks with Roh on the afternoon of Oct. 2.
Following talks with Roh, Kim Yong-nam will host a welcoming dinner for the South Korean president, he said, noting that North Korean leader Kim may not show up at the dinner.
Following the dinner, Roh and Kim Jong-il may together watch the Arirang Festival for about one and a half hours beginning 8:30 p.m. at the Rungrado May Day Stadium, the largest football stadium in the world, capable of seating over 150,000, Cheon said, adding the final schedule has yet to be fixed.
South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung's announcement of a government plan to push for Roh and his entourage to watch the Arirang Festival featuring North Korea's pro-communist propaganda and pro-unification mass gymnastics has triggered a heated debate in the South. Conservatives are opposed to Roh's
attendance at Arirang, saying that sections of the gymnastics performance contain content idolizing the North's deceased founder Kim Il-sung and his son and North Korean leader Kim.
But Lee said the two Koreas are discussing the deletion of sensitive contents from the Arirang performance before Roh watches it.
On the second day, Oct. 3, Roh will again meet with Kim Yong-nam for an hour in the morning before engaging in lengthy talks with Kim Jong-il for the rest of the day to tackle a long list of inter-Korean pending issues. In the midst of the summit talks, Roh will host a dinner for his North Korean counterpart.
Officials forecast that an inter-Korean joint statement could be agreed upon late at night, as happened at the first inter-Korean summit seven years ago.
On Oct. 4, Roh's itinerary will consist mainly of visits to the North's major industrial and cultural facilities, including a West Sea floodgate, train locomotive plant, textile factory, art college and medical research institute.
Roh and Kim Jong-il may meet again at a farewell luncheon, according to officials. On his way home, Roh will visit the North's industrial complex in Kaesong, Cheon said. "Roh and South Korean delegates alone will visit the Kaesong industrial park," said Cheon.
He said Roh, first lady Kwon and the South's official attendants will stay at the Paekhwawon State Guest House in Pyongyang, the North's best-rated state guest house reserved for visiting heads of state.
The South's 48 special attendants, mostly representatives of the South's business community, will stay at the Potong River Hotel, while 89 ordinary attendants and 50 reporters and media workers will stay at the Koryo Hotel, he added.