S. Korea Backs North’s Delay of Summit : Asia: Foreign Minister Han Sung Joo says it’s up to Pyongyang to ‘resurrect the momentum’ for talks.

South Korean Foreign Minister Han Sung Joo on Monday welcomed North Korea’s “postponement,” rather than cancellation, of the first-ever meeting of leaders of the two countries but said South Korea will not be in a hurry to hold a new summit.

Instead, he said North Korea must now “resurrect the momentum” for progress that was broken by the death of its “Great Leader,” Kim Il Sung, 82. He said the North also must create a “new environment conducive to a summit.”

South Korea, for its part, must be convinced that the North’s new leader is running his country “stably and firmly,” he added.

Speaking after North Korea notified the South that it “could not avoid postponing” the summit scheduled for July 25-27, Han said “the idea of holding a summit meeting . . . is still valid.” But he said the unprecedented session will not be rescheduled automatically.

“Discussions on a subsequent summit meeting” will have to be held, and such talks will occur only “if and when a new environment that is conducive to holding a summit is created,” Han said. Asked if his comments meant that South Korea was “going back to Square One,” Han replied: “Maybe we will go back to Square Two.”

Han urged North Korea to resume quickly its talks with the United States to resolve suspicions about the North’s nuclear program. “The first order of business is to resolve the nuclear issue,” he said, but set no deadline.

The summit’s postponement and the interruption in U.S.-North Korea talks broke a “momentum” that “has to be resurrected,” he said. “We hope the new leadership in North Korea will cooperate.”

Han said Kim Jong Il--the son of the leader who founded and ruled North Korea throughout its 46-year history and left it with a sagging economy and one of every 22 citizens in the armed forces--is “most likely” to ascend to power. But he said South Korea could not judge if the younger Kim, 52, would add to instability on the Korean peninsula. “We really don’t have a clear track record on Kim Jong Il,” he said. But he said “there is no basis for predicting . . . a radically different policy than that of the deceased president.”

Meanwhile, in Pyongyang, Kim Jong Il, anointed to succeed his father 20 years ago, was shown on North Korean television for the first time since his father’s death. Dressed in a gray Mao suit and wearing a black mourning band on his left arm, Kim led a procession of officials viewing the body of the late president in a glass-covered coffin.

Standing next to him was O Chin U, defense minister and revolution-era comrade of his father. O ranks second in the North Korean hierarchy and is the most influential leader in the armed forces.

MBC-TV, which showed the film in Seoul, said mourners began to pay homage in the Presidential Palace at 9 p.m. Monday. The mourning period will continue until a state funeral Sunday.

Uniformed students and teachers of the North Korean Military Academy appeared en masse before the 66-foot-tall statue of Kim Il Sung in front of North Korea’s Revolution Museum, wailing, crying and prostrating themselves over the death of their “Great Leader.” The scenes were replayed on South Korean television, which monitors broadcasts in the North.

In Seoul, Han confirmed that all North Korean media on Monday had started referring to Kim Jong Il as “His Excellency” or by the term previously reserved for his father, “the Great Leader.” Until now, the younger Kim has been called “the Dear Leader.”

Support from the 1.1-million-strong armed forces, regarded as the only organization capable of enforcing unity in North Korea, is considered essential for Kim Jong Il to rule. He commands the military but was appointed to head it only in December, 1991, without ever having served in its ranks.

Across a demilitarized zone separating the divided nation are the 625,000 armed forces of South Korea and 37,000 American troops, pledged by treaty to help defend the South against any attack.

In Washington, Clinton Administration officials said they do not expect any immediate change in North Korea’s behavior.

“Every sign so far points to continuity,” Winston Lord, assistant secretary of state for East Asian affairs, told reporters at the State Department.

He said the Administration is not seeking a formal reaffirmation from Kim Jong Il of his father’s pledge to freeze the nuclear program while negotiations are under way.

“We have every indication . . . (that) the continuing freeze of North Korean nuclear activities is continuing and will continue,” he said. “North Korea certainly knows that this is a premise for our talks, and we see no reason to believe that this is going to be interrupted.”

Lord said the American government “does not have a good feel” for the younger Kim. “Very frankly, there is not a good profile on him,” he said. “And you hear conflicting reports often based on hearsay or rumors, so I think one should reserve judgment.”

But he said intelligence reports suggested that Kim Jong Il had played a significant role on nuclear and other issues. “That would suggest possible continuity,” he said.

Lord noted one potentially positive sign: North Korea’s government-run domestic radio network broadcasted the text of Clinton’s message of condolences on the elder Kim’s death. Lord called the decision to broadcast the statement “quite unusual.”

Another official said it appeared to reflect the value the North Koreans attach to such forms of international recognition, one reason Clinton sent the conciliatory message.

Times staff writer Doyle McManus in Washington contributed to this report.