By I don’t see this one happening but who knows. The Chosun Ilbo is reporting that Kim Jong Il and President Roh Moo-hyun have been invited to Moscow to attend the 60 year end of World War II memorial.
Both President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il have been invited to attend a celebration marking the 60th anniversary of the Allied victory in World War II to be held in Moscow on May 9.
Accordingly, some are speculating that a second intra-Korean summit, following the first that was held in 2000, might take place in Moscow. As of now, however, the prospects do not look good. This is because while President Roh will likely attend the ceremony, it is still unclear whether the North Korean leader would.
Will Kim Jong-il attend? During gathering such as these, North Korea has usually sent its nominal head of state, President Kim Yong-nam of the Supreme People’s Assembly Presidium, or simply failed to attend. Korea Institute for National Unification researcher Chon Hyun-joon said that because Kim Jong-il has never attended an international event attended by foreign heads of state, the possibility that he might attend the upcoming one in Moscow was currently low. He said, however, that because Kim has broken with expectations before, it was premature to completely rule out his attendance. A Cheong Wa Dae official said all measures were being considered, including ones based on the presumption of Kim’s attendance.
I don’t think Kim Jong Il will attend this gathering because he likes to portray the image of the crazy mad man and man of mystery. Rubbing elbowes with world leaders does not help that persona. Could you imagine if him and President Bush ran into each other much less Roh Moo-hyun?
