Two Koreas Set Summit for This Month

South Korea said Wednesday President Roh Moo-hyun will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-il this month for the second two-Korea summit in seven years.

The president’s office said Roh and Kim will meet in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang for the three-day summit starting Aug. 28 to establish peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and provide momentum to settle the North Korean nuclear problem.

Yonhap news agency reported the summit plans were made final after two secret visits to the north by South Korea’s national intelligence head, Kim Man-bok. The first summit involving both Koreas was held in June 2000.

Yonhap said it was disclosed summit contacts began after the North invited the NIS head July 29 to secretly visit Pyongyang.

Yonhap also reported U.S. President George Bush’s administration was surprised to hear the summit announcement, which was disclosed only a few hours before the official announcement.

However, the report quoting sources, said the United States also is expressing deep interest, while noting the meeting should not draw the focus away from the ongoing six-nation talks on the North’s denuclearization.

The two Koreas technically are still in a state of war because their 1950-53 war ended in a truce without a peace treaty being signed.