Billy Graham Meets N. Korean Leader, Delivers Bush’s Message
Evangelist Billy Graham conveyed an oral message from President Bush when he met North Korean President Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang on Thursday, the official Korean Central News Agency said.
The agency, monitored in Tokyo, did not give details of the message but said Kim and Graham conversed in “a cordial and friendly atmosphere.”
Graham carried a gift for Kim, who turns 80 on April 15, and one for his son and designated heir, Kim Jong Il, to mark his 50th birthday Feb. 16.
The 73-year-old Christian evangelist arrived in Pyongyang on Tuesday for a five-day visit to the officially atheist Stalinist state.
In a statement before his visit, Graham said he had discussed the trip with Bush and Secretary of State James A. Baker III.
“Their reaction was very positive,” Graham said, adding that he hoped “that in some small way I can make a contribution to more peaceful relations between our two countries.”
The United States led a U.N.-mandated force that repelled North Korea’s 1950 invasion of the south, and still has nearly 40,000 troops in South Korea.
Relations between the two Koreas have improved dramatically in recent months and they signed a nonaggression pact in December.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
