Kim to Meet With Bush On March 8

President Kim Dae-jung of South Korea and President George W. Bush of the United States will hold their first direct talks in Washington on March 8 (Seoul Time), the presidential spokesman, Park Joon-young, said Wednesday.

Explaining that there were some differences among Seoul, Pyongyang and Washington on whether a visit to Seoul by the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, should take place before the Seoul-Washington summit meeting, a senior government official said President Kim will first meet with Mr. Bush.

"The North Korean leader's visit to Seoul will only be possible after President Kim visits Washington and the North's Kim visits Russia." The trip to Russia is believed to be scheduled for April.

Government officials said that some politicians in Seoul strongly argued that the visit by the North's Kim should take place first. Plans for him to come to Seoul next week were reported on Tuesday and proved to be wrong.

"Some officials argued that holding the inter-Korean summit after the North's leader visited China and the Seoul-Washington summit is not in accordance with the June 15 accord which states that the two Koreas should be the key players in dealing with Korean issues," an official explained.

South Korea's intelligence chief, Lim Dong-won, flew into the United States on Monday to seek Washington's support in the matter, but officials there seemed to be opposed to "Mr. Kim's earlier than expected visit," the official continued, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"The Bush administration seemed to be burdened that the two Koreas were going ahead while it is reviewing its policy toward the North," a diplomatic source said.

Mr. Kim's visit to Washington will include meetings with major Bush administration officials, including Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Lee Joung-binn, who visited Washington this month, said that he expects Mr. Bush to come to Seoul around October.

by Kim Jin-kook