By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter
A top North Korean official and a South Korean politician may have met in Jakarta, Indonesia, to test the waters for a possible inter-Korean summit, local broadcaster MBC reported Tuesday.
Citing an unidentified diplomatic source in Beijing, MBC reported that Kim Yang-gon, North Korea's point man on the South, and Lee Sang-deuk, a governing Grand National Party lawmaker and brother to President Lee Myung-bak, may have met in the Southeast Asian capital, to prepare for the possible meeting.
The broadcaster captured an image of Kim leaving Beijing International Airport Tuesday afternoon for Pyongyang via an Air Koryo flight. Diplomatic sources reportedly confirmed that Kim travelled to Beijing on Oct. 15 but his whereabouts were kept secret during his five-day stay.
Another source familiar with North Korea matters said Kim, who heads the North Korea's United Front Department, flew to Jakarta from Beijing to meet with Rep. Lee to explore the feasibility of an inter-Korean summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and President Lee.
Kim met with the President in Seoul in August after offering condolences to the late former President Kim Dae-jung on behalf of the North Korean leader and to discuss inter-Korean relations.
Rep. Lee went to the Southeast Asian nation Sunday for a four-day trip as a special presidential envoy to the inauguration ceremony of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman denied the broadcaster's reports, saying Tuesday that the two did not meet.
The news comes five days after a senior Pentagon official's remarks that North Korean leader Kim had proposed a summit with President Lee.
Cheong Wa Dae immediately refuted the statement, saying there had been no summit proposal, and that there may have been a misunderstanding in the course of information sharing within the U.S. administration on the issue.
The White House and Pentagon later said North Korea had not made any specific proposal for an inter-Korean summit, explaining the remarks stemmed from a ``misunderstanding.''