Koreas Delay Summit Due to Technical Woes

The historic first summit between North and South Korean leaders has been postponed by one day for “unavoidable technical reasons” at North Korea’s request, the South Korean government announced today.

The South agreed to the delay after receiving an urgent telephone call Saturday night from the North requesting the postponement, South Korean spokesmen said.

President Kim Dae Jung had been scheduled to fly Monday to Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, and hold three private meetings with leader Kim Jong Il, as well as attend two state dinners and other events. It is the first meeting between leaders of the two Koreas since the peninsula was divided in 1945, and Seoul hopes that the summit will set the stage for gradual reconciliation.

Details of the technical difficulties were not immediately available today, but a government source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there have been problems with the quality of photographs sent in test transmission from the North. Tests of television images have been satisfactory, however.

A fuzzy photo of a historic handshake between the two Kims could presumably cause heads to roll in both Koreas.

“In the North, not a single iota of mistake can be tolerated,” said Moon Chung In, a political scientist at Yonsei University and one of the 130 delegates from all sectors of South Korean society who are accompanying the president to Pyongyang. “In the North and South, too, many bureaucrats have their lives at stake. Both sides want a perfect summit.”

Another area of concern is the southern president’s itinerary, which was not supposed to be released to the press in advance, in deference to North Korea’s wishes. However, the schedule was leaked to South Korean media Saturday.

Government officials said the summit will proceed as planned beginning Tuesday, and the South Korean president took the announcement in stride, according to his spokesman. “We Korean people have waited more than 55 years,” the leader reportedly said. “One day more is not important.”