Swedish Leader Is Expected to Push for a 2d Summit

Sweden's prime minister, Goeran Persson, is expected during his two-day visit to North Korea next week to urge its leader Kim Jong-il to make the planned return visit to Seoul, diplomatic sources in South Korea said Tuesday.

Mr. Persson, as the rotating president of the European Union, is scheduled to visit Pyongyang May 2 and Seoul May 3, South Korea's presidential spokes-man said. The visit follows a decision by 15 European Union leaders in late March to send mediators to North and South Korea to help invigorate peace process after the Bush administration said that it would not resume talks with North Korea any time soon.

During his meeting with Kim Jong-il, Mr. Persson is expected to present the argument that continuous inter-Korean summits are necessary for a skeptical international community to as-sure itself of North Korea's "transparency," government officials explained.

The officials appeared to harbor great expectations for Mr. Persson's visit. Since the Bush administration signaled a tougher stance toward the communist state last month, inter-Korean relations have come to a virtual standstill.

Mr. Persson has explained the aim of his visit as a show of "support for the process started by South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, a process aimed at bringing to an end one of the last conflicts with origins in the Second World War." He is also likely to seek possible independent roles for the European Union to help North Korea open its economy to the outside world.

North Korea has intensified its European diplomacy in recent months, establishing ties with Britain, Germany and other countries.

by Lee Chul-hee