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Strongly insinuating that North Korea was behind the sinking of a Navy warship, President Lee Myung-bak in early May announced major changes in the way South Korea’s military will defend the country. “It has now become clear that the Cheonan did not sink from a simple accident,” Lee said in an opening address at an unprecedented meeting of military commanders on May 4. “As soon as the incident happened, I realized that it was a grave international issue, that included inter-Korean relations, and made an order to the defense minister to lay bare the cause through international cooperation.” Lee hosted...

Leaders of North, South Korea meet By BURT HERMAN, Associated Press Writer 23 minutes ago North Korean leader Kim Jong Il greeted South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun in Pyongyang on Tuesday to begin the second summit between the two countries since the peninsula's division after World War II. Thousands of cheering North Koreans waving pink paper flowers and a military honor guard bearing rifles with bayonets heralded the leaders' first encounter outside a cultural hall in the North Korean capital, where Roh traveled some 3 1/2 hours by road from the South Korean capital, Seoul. The two leaders walked down...

Two Koreas agree to postpone summit until early October: presidential office By Yoo Cheong-mo SEOUL, Aug. 18 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Saturday asked South Korea to postpone the inter-Korean summit slated for Aug. 28-30 in Pyongyang until early October, citing severe flood damage sustained by the North, presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-seon said. In response, South Korea accepted the North's request and proposed holding the summit on Oct. 2-4 in the North Korean capital, Cheon said.

Roh Bent on Last-Minute Inter-Korean Summit President Roh Moo-hyun has reiterated he would want to meet with Kim Jong-il even when Roh has only two or three months left in office. "When the nuclear issue is in the process of resolution, the inter-Korean relationship should develop simultaneously,” Roh said in an interview with the government-friendly Hankyoreh Shinmun on Wednesday. “In that sense, if I turn down North Korea's request for a summit on grounds that I have only a few months in office left, the process of resolving the North Korean nuclear problem would be affected and delayed." He...

http://english.yna.co.kr/Engnews/20050617/610000000020050617142114E2.html(5th LD) Kim Jong-il meets visiting South Korean officialPYONGYANG, June 17 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il held a rare meeting with a South Korean official Friday but there was no indication that their discussions included the ongoing tension over the communist country's nuclear program. South Korean officials in Pyongyang, the North's capital, confirmed the luncheon meeting between their unification minister, Chung Dong-young and Kim but provided few other details. Also invited to the luncheon were several former South Korean officials whom the North Korean leader had met. They included Lim Dong-won and Park Jae-kyu who served as unification...