It seems like the Dear Leader may not greet Pres. Roh Moo Hyun when he arrives in Pyongyang next week.
Pundits have speculated that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il may greet Roh at the entrance of Pyongyang.
But Roh’s spokesman Cheon Ho-seon told reporters that North Korean leader Kim has no plan to come out to personally greet Roh.
“The North has notified us that its leader won’t show up at the entrance of Pyongyang to greet Roh,” Cheon said in his daily media briefing. “Instead, we heard that Kim Yong-nam will greet Roh on the outskirts of Pyongyang.”
When Kim Dae Jung went up North seven years ago, KJI came out to personally greet him at the airport. It is also unclear whether KJI will meet with Roh during the first day at all.
Roh will then visit the Mansudae Assembly Hall in the afternoon to hold talks with Kim Yong-nam.
Cheon said it still remains unclear whether North Korean leader Kim would hold talks with Roh on the afternoon of Oct. 2.
Following talks with Roh, Kim Yong-nam will host a welcoming dinner for the South Korean president, he said, noting that North Korean leader Kim may not show up at the dinner.
Following the dinner, Roh and Kim Jong-il may together watch the Arirang Festival
However Oct 3. is on for the summit between the leaders of the two Koreas.
On the second day, Oct. 3, Roh will again meet with Kim Yong-nam for an hour in the morning before engaging in lengthy talks with Kim Jong-il for the rest of the day to tackle a long list of inter-Korean pending issues. In the midst of the summit talks, Roh will host a dinner for his North Korean counterpart.
On Oct. 4, Roh’s itinerary will consist mainly of visits to the North’s major industrial and cultural facilities, including a West Sea floodgate, train locomotive plant, textile factory, art college and medical research institute.
Roh and Kim Jong-il may meet again at a farewell luncheon, according to officials.
Roh is getting less facetime with KJI compared to Kim Dae Jung. During the 2000 summit, Kim Dae Jung met with KJI during the first and second days of his three day visit.
It looks like the Dear Leader is discreetly snubbing Roh. On top of that the supposed summit is looking more like a Presidential junket to North Korea and less like a summit between the leaders of the two Koreas. This begs the question, why bother going?
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18 Comments
Is anybody in the South Korean press wondering if KJI is dead or severely ill? His son did return to North Korea just a few weeks back.
Shoring up the progressive base ahead of the December elections?
Not that anyone can read the mind of KJI, but I’d be really, really surprised if he didn’t meet Roh once he got to Pyongyang. KJI has just as much stake in helping Chung Dong-young (?) get elected as Roh, and a snub that clear would help nobody except Lee Myung-bak. To the extent that no plans have been made, that just seems like typical North Korean “we’ll do things when we want to do them” bullshit, plus it gives KJI the opportunity to make the dramatic “unscheduled” appearance, honoring Roh and Co. with the awe-inspiring radiance of his royal presence.
Or is it that KJI (if he isn’t sick or dead) is trying to distance himself from Roh in the hopes that he can win some points with the US, which the North Korean government appears to have been trying to please in the last few weeks?
@someguyinKorea
That was precisely my first reaction - about KJI getting sick, I mean.
I wonder if this is why Kim Jong Nam was allowed to come back from Macau despite the embarrassment in 2001… does that mean Kim Jong Chul (who apparently have the support of DPRK army) is no longer the contender for KJI’s successor?
Who will say hello first? Wow, this is exciting.
1. Yeesh, have some self respect President Roh! It’s bad enough that you’re going up there to appear to pay tribute when it was supposedd to be the other guy’s turn to come south. Now it looks like he’s going to make you wait all day for a photo op.
2. I may be completely wrong, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Kim line finds itself out of the picture once kind old KJI goes to literal and figurative hell. Could there be a Chinese backed general waiting in the wings?
It wouldn’t be the first time the little vampire has snubbed someone he really should have met straight up.
The incident that comes to mind imediately: 2001, on his way to Moscow on his special train, the family of the man who died saving his father’s life wait in Novosibirsk to meet him. Yakov Novichenko threw himself on a grenade to save Kim Il Sung in 1946 and was killed instantly. But Kim Jong Il can’t even be bothered getting off the train to meet his 80 year old widow, who is waiting by the tracks with a gift.
I heard this story when I was in Pyongyang and didn’t believe it, but I managed to dig up the article here:
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/W.....index.html
I did some more digging and I owe an apology to Kim Jong Il. The man who saved his dad’s life was merely a peasant, and he didn’t die instantly, he only lost an arm and was horribly disfigured (He died later of complications) Also, it was raining that day at the station, so he would have probably got wet.
“I owe an apology to Kim Jong Il”
No, hoju saram, you don’t owe him anything. The only thing this guy is owed is a slow and painful death.
Perhaps the plan is to honor Roh with a wave from KJI at the intermission of the Arirang performance. Then Roh can continue on his tour to Kim Sung Il’s statue and pay the proper respects (kneepads will be available from state-sponsored vendors).
#4,
I notice that many of the pictures of KJI that were published in the last couple of years show someone who just barely looks like him. Some people said he looked sick, but I think those were just his doubles. Why would his doubles start popping up left and right? My guess is that he’s been fighting a chronic disease.
“My guess is that he’s been fighting a chronic disease.”
Wouldn’t surprise me either. Diabetes? Hypertension? Mental illness (es)? A cocktail of STDs? Impotence? Eventually, and hopefully sooner than later, we’ll get to find out. It will make for some pretty good reading. It will also mean the old bastard’s dead.
Making a guest wait is the confucian way of saying that “hey, I don’t think you are my equal.”
Does anyone remember the SK propaganda from the last century that usually pictured KIS with a big bandaid on the back of his neck, covering up the largish wen that KIS had? Perhaps KJI also has a wen which is dusturbing his mental faculties.
#12,
Imagine the results if he’s driven to insanity by syphilis.
http://animatedtv.about.com/li.....Carpet.jpg
KJI doesn’t have to greet Roh to get his propagana photo-op. Has anyone seen the new, updated, website for S. Korea? I went to see it out of curiosity, and dang near fell off my chair. Looks like both Roh and KJI work at the Blue House, from the picture that greets ya….. Now THAT has got to be good for a propaganda article or two up North…..
http://english.president.go.kr
I had always thought that KJI meeting Kim Dae-jung at the airport was a clever PR move, guessing that Kim Dae-jung would be too overwhelmed by the gesture to try to make any public (symbolic?) comments or speeches at the airport. Maybe KJI doesn’t really care what President Roh has to say.
those two kneepads will cost $250 million apiece
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