The clock is ticking for Kim

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The clock is ticking for Kim

The two Koreas will sit down together for official talks next week in Pyeongyang for the first time since inter-Korean relations froze after the breakdown of last November's ministerial talks. "The dispatch of a special presidential envoy enables intense communication between the two leaders," said a senior government official Monday, after the Blue House and North Korea's state media announced that Lim Dong-won will visit Pyeongyang as President Kim Dae-jung's envoy.

Mr. Lim, the presidential adviser on North Korean affairs, will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and gauge his intention to pay a long-delayed reciprocal visit to Seoul. Observers said such a trip, in return for President Kim's travel to Pyeongyang in 2000, would be a great victory for Mr. Kim's policy of engaging the North.

Mr. Lim is expected to discuss Pyeongyang's nuclear and missile programs, relaying Seoul's stance and the Bush administration's view. Observers cautioned that Pyeongyang may try to freeze Seoul out of any such discussions.

Seoul officials also said Mr. Lim will touch on pending issues between the two Koreas - particularly resuming ministerial talks and separated family reunions. Relinking an inter-Korean railway, opening an overland route for Mount Geumgang tours and building military trust are also on the agenda.

Mr. Lim will also deliver good news; Seoul is ready to send fertilizer and rice to the North soon, a government source said.

Sources familiar with the special envoy's dispatch predicted that Kim Yong-nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, may visit Seoul with a North Korean delegation for the World Cup finals. North Korea's nominal head of state's visit to the South could be a prelude to a visit by Kim Jong-il, North Korea watchers said.

Mr. Lim dismissed the extreme optimism, and some observers pointed out that his role will be limited because time is running out for the Kim Dae-jung administration, which leaves office next year.

A major contact in the North for Mr. Lim will be Kim Yong-sun, the Workers' Party secretary. The two worked together to hammer out the two nations' differences in how to implement the June 2000 Joint Declaration in a late-night negotiation in September of the same year.

by Lee Young-jong

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