• What are Kim Dae-Jung and Kim Jong-Il likely to accomplish in this first-ever meeting?



• What do you think lies behind the North's sudden willingness to talk?


• What is at stake for the U.S?


• How do you think Korea's neighbors view the summit?


• What do you think of the criticism that the summit was a pre-election maneuver for Kim Dae-Jung?


• How do you think Kim Jong-Il will do as a leader that has to interact with other countries?


• Do you feel the summit vindicates Kim Dae-Jung's sunshine policy?


• What are you feelings about Kim Dae-Jung saying that the summit is sending a message to other powers that the two Koreas can handle their problems independently?

What are Kim Dae-Jung and Kim Jong-Il likely to accomplish in this first-ever meeting? Is it more symbolic or do you think there will be real progress and communication?

I think this first meeting is certainly very powerful symbolism, so I basically have four minimal hopes for the summit. One, I hope that it will take place, which it seems that it's certain to take place. I think the atmosphere leading up to the summit seems to be very good. Secondly, I hope that the two men, Kim Dae-Jung and Kim Jong-Il find some things in each other to which they can relate positively. Three, I hope that some progress can be made on the question of separated families. I think that there are ways of approaching that, either allowing mail exchanges or perhaps telephone exchanges, or maybe videoconferencing. But I hope something can be done about that. And then fourth, I hope that some agenda items can emerge from this summit which can pave the way for subsequent summits and then sort of secondary-level discussions between technicians on issues that are not worthy of presidential-level discussions.

What do you think lies behind the North's sudden willingness to talk?

I don't think it's sudden. I think that they have systemic inability to feed their people. I think that they know that they need help. I think they have watched Kim Dae-Jung very carefully since his inauguration and have listened to what he's been saying about the sunshine policy. They haven't really liked it, but I think they've come to realize that he's sincere in what he's saying, that he's not trying to swallow them or undercut them. I think the lesson that they learned from the sea fight last year was very important, because it was a demonstration that he would not be pushed around and that their forces were dangerously inferior to those of the South.

I think they've also received some very important input from the Chinese, who have been urging moderation. And I also think it's very important that Kim Jong-Il went to China, which gives him a little experience in terms of dealing with high-level foreigners and also increases his face, because he now can say, "I've been to somewhere besides the Chinese Embassy."

What is at stake for the U.S?

It's important that we have a great deal of confidence in Kim Dae-Jung, who is an extremely experienced diplomat and summiteer. I hope that we are not to push in terms of urging him to raise issues which are more of more concern to us than the South Koreans, such as the nuclear nonproliferation treaty or missiles, because I think if he raises those issues, the North inevitably will raise the question of U.S. troops, which I don't think we're ready to discuss. They may raise that issue anyway. But I think we ought to be very thankful and very confident that this meeting is going to be conducted very well on the part of Kim Dae-Jung.

How do you think Korea's neighbors view the summit?

I think they view it very positively. I gave the keynote speech at a conference in late February on the sunshine policy, and the Russian ambassador was there and expressed full support, and a very senior Chinese was there and expressed full support, and a Japanese intellectual was there and expressed full support. So for the first time in its history, there is a South Korean diplomatic initiative, which has the full support of its neighbors, and in fact South Korea has a better set of relationships with China and Russia than we do, which I think works to everybody's benefit.

What do you think of the criticism that the summit was a pre-election maneuver for Kim Dae-Jung?

I think the word came back before the summit, and I think it was a piece of very good news and I think he released the news when he got it, and that happened to be a few days before the election, but it didn't seem to have made a tremendous difference.

There is a lot of positive reaction in South Korea, wanting all things North Korean-- books, food, entertainment, a new car is being named "The Summit." Once the buzz calms, do you think there are still fears of the economic burden that might result from closer ties with the North?

Yes. I think there is a fear of the implications of a collapse, because there have been conferences held in Seoul that have spelled out in some detail the immensely heavy burden that would fall on South Korea, so I think there is concern about that, and I think Kim Dae-Jung is very realistic about that, and he is saying he will leave the question of reunification to his successors and is just going to deal with the easier issues that can lead to more amicable relations between North and South and the ending of the Cold War structures on the peninsula.

Kim Jong-Il has fascinated the world for a long time as a mysterious leader of a rogue nation with a very peculiar personality. North Korea just opened up relations with Italy and Australia. How do you think he will do as a leader that has to interact with other countries?

Well, we're going to find that out. I think that he's on strong ground in meeting with Kim Dae-Jung because he's following in his father's footsteps, and his father had agreed to meeting with Kim Young-Sam. His father had traveled to China in 1991, so then I think he's on strong ground as he does that, and I think his willingness to go abroad to China is a demonstration of the confidence he has in the strength of his own position. So I think he's going to hold up. I mean, it was Dr. Perry's feeling that Kim Jong-Il is clearly in charge of North Korea, and that we have to deal with North Korea as it is, not how we might wish it would be or could be.

Do you feel the summit vindicates Kim Dae-Jung's sunshine policy?

Yes, very much so. He announced it on the day of his inauguration. I was sitting in the stands listening to him say it. He's immediately reached out to the neighboring countries to gather their support, and he was very pleased, the last time I met him, at the end of February, to report that there was a 66% approval rating for the sunshine policy at that time, which he said came about as a result of South Korean beginning to think about North Korea not as their eternal enemies but as their tragically separated brethren.

What are you feelings about Kim Dae-Jung saying that the summit is sending a message to other powers that the two Koreas can handle their problems independently?

I don't think he's [Kim Dae-Jung]shouldering us aside. I think that Kim Young-Sam was much less confident about that and that he did some flip-flops in terms of what he wanted us to do and what he didn't want us to do. I think Kim Dae-Jung has been quite consistent. I think he's very confident about us and our role [United States], and I think we ought to be very confident about him and his role. So I think our policies are very well coordinated. I expect him to continue to be well coordinated, and I don't foresee this as creating major problems between us. I think a mistake would be to try to accomplish too much in this first summit. I think that the four things that I mentioned at the beginning of this interview would be a very adequate basis upon which to proclaim success, and anything beyond that is gravy.

Interview conducted by Cindy Yoon of AsiaSource.