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WORLD / Asia-Pacific
S.Korean presidential limo crosses DMZ into North
(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-09-18 15:42
PAJU - A South Korean presidential limousine entered the North on Tuesday
taking officials on a scouting mission ahead of the second only summit
meeting between leaders of the two sides.
An advance team for inter-Korean summit leaves for North Korea at the
Inter Korea Transit Office in Paju, near the border village of the
Panmunjom, north of Seoul, September 18, 2007. A South Korean delegation
left for Pyongyang on Tuesday to work out details for the upcoming
inter-Korean summit. [Reuters]?
It was the first time a South Korean presidential vehicle had crossed the
heavily fortified Demilitarised Zone border since the 1950s.
"We will be checking the president and the first lady's routes so that
their movement is safe," a security official at the presidential Blue
House said before the trip, which will take them 168 km (104 miles) from
the border to North Korea's capital, Pyongyang.
The meeting between South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean
leader Kim Jong-il was originally set for August 28-30 but was delayed to
October 2-4 because of flooding in the North.
An S-Class Mercedes Benz sedan was among dozens of vehicles that crossed
into the North on a four-day tour that will set the stage for the summit.
For the first summit in 2000, then president Kim Dae-jung flew to outside
Pyongyang and rode with the North Korean leader into the capital.
Roh has said he would discuss beginning talks for a permanent peace
treaty to replace the fraying truce that ended the Korean War. He also
said the meeting will help the Cold War foes develop common economic
interests by trying to build "an economic community".
Analysts expect Seoul will offer massive economic aid to repair the
North's broken economy, further hit this year by the widespread flooding.
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