U.S. Welcomes Talks Between DPRK and South KoreaThe White House on Tuesday hailed the historic summit between leaders of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and South Korea as "extraordinarily important," expressing the hope that the meeting would lead to reduced tensions on the Korean Peninsula.South Korean President Kim Dae-jung began on Tuesday a three-day visit to the DPRK, the first of its kind in 55 years of the peninsula's division, and received a warm welcome at the airport by DPRK leader Kim Jong-il. "I think the fact that the two leaders are meeting is extraordinarily important," said White House spokesman Joe Lockhart. He said that "as far as the concrete results that may come out of this session, I don't want to speculate in the first day of the meetings, but it is quite important that these leaders are now engaged in face-to-face discussions." "It's impossible to predict at this point where these talks will lead, but it's obviously an important step and an important part of the process that they have been brought together in this forum to have discussions directly," the spokesman added. |
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