Pyongyang Shows Unusual Diplomacy
By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter
North Korea has shown unusual diplomatic protocol during the second-inter Korean summit in Pyongyang, changing schedules and venues of planned events several times.
On the first day of President Roh Moo-hyun's visit to Pyongyang, Tuesday, the North changed a venue for welcoming Roh twice before settling on the April 25 House of Culture.
In addition, the North informed the South just two hours before that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il would show up at the welcoming ceremony.
Moreover, Kim arrived at the Baekwhawon State Guesthouse for summit talks at 9:30 a.m., 30 minutes prior to the scheduled time, and the talks began earlier.
Among other things, Kim asked Roh to extend the summit talks by one day to Friday. Surprised, Roh told him that he would discuss the request with his staff, but concluded he would return home as scheduled.
The changes are far from normal for summit diplomacy by heads of state whose schedule is normally fixed according to a well-prepared timeline. It is almost unheard of to change events involved in summit talks because heads of state need tight security and the changes could harm state affairs.
The North Korean official who attended the talks was also an example of this unusual diplomacy. For South Korea, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy Kwon O-kyu, Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung, National Intelligence Director Kim Man-bok and Baek Jong-chun, chief presidential secretary for foreign and security policy attended the two rounds of talks in the morning and afternoon.
However, only Kim Yang-gon, the director of the United Front Department of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, accompanied Kim Jong-il to the talks.
The basic etiquette of equalizing the number of attendees was ignored.
Observers said that the North's summit diplomacy was not so delicate because the reclusive leader makes all decisions.
But this kind of unusual diplomacy spawned bad effects before.
In 2000, the United States demanded a commitment from the North on the abandoning of missile development while preparing for former U.S. President Bill Clinton's visit to Pyongyang. But the North missed an opportunity to receive Clinton as North Korean officials just said they would treat him well without giving a concrete answer.
A government official said on condition of anonymity, ``Such unexpected diplomacy can be considered rude to others. North Korea needs to develop its diplomacy if it wants to become a normal state.''