The current inter-Korean summit was held amid a fever of enthusiasm of the entire Korean people. How do you assess its success? 

I would say its primary significance can be found in that it marked a step toward the long-awaited national unification by the Koreans themselves. National unification is not only the paramount concern of the Korean people but also my own will to achieve through successfully following the teachings of President Kim IL Sung’s. There is a proverb in Korea: “Well begun is half done.” It’s time for us to make joint efforts to bring about Korea’s reunification at the earliest possible date.

On June 13, you showed exceptionally good hospitality to President Kim Dae Jung by meeting him at the airport. It was unprecedented in terms of protocol. Please tell me what made you do that?

I spontaneously made that decision. As a matter of fact, Mr. Kim Dae Jung’s image had been not so good among our people. His image is derived from the negative information about his words and deeds. For instance, he has advocated continued U.S. military presence in South Korea even after the unification has been realized; he detained a number of South Korean unification activists; and he failed to take due steps to send our unconverted long-term prisoners back to us. In contrast, however, President Kim made a brave decision to come visit Pyongyang. Therefore, necessity to change such a mood of the Pyongyang citizens drove me to greet him at the airport.

What was your impression about President Kim?

The 5-point joint declaration agreed at the current summit talks is so significant that it may be named a great charter for national unification. You cannot do everything at one go. It may take some time, however, we must put it into practice without fail. I do believe that President Kim has a firm will and good faith to put the agreement into action with unwavering attention. ... I also will do my utmost for its realization.

In South Korea expectations are running high for your return visit to Seoul. When do you think it will happen?

I would like to make a decision by watching the subsequent developments in terms of the agreement’s implementation.

You paid an unofficial visit to China just before the inter-Korean summit. How do you evaluate China’s open-door policy?

I feel that it has been having positive effects on the economic growth. Politics should help raise the standard living of the people anyway.

Compared to the North-South relations which have made a ground-breaking progress, the DPRK-US relations seem to have been at a somewhat stalemate for the moment. What prospect do you have of improving bilateral ties?

William Perry visited here in his capacity as a U.S. special envoy. Now the ball is in our court. So we are going to send a higher-level delegation to the U.S. soon.

President Kim reportedly claimed during the summit that an “immediate pullout of the U.S. forces from South Korea would be difficult in consideration of the realities” and that both of you arrived at not a complete agreement but some mutual understanding on this subject. What do you think of it?

We have urged the U.S. forces to leave South Korea. However, I don’t expect them to leave soon. The Americans, before anybody else, should give it reconsideration of their own accord. They are responsible for the partitioning of Korea into two halves. They are accordingly obligated to facilitate its reunification.

How are you intending to solve the DPRK-Japanese relations?

For us, Japan has been long a so-called “nation close yet far.” We are ready to make our ties with that country “close and intimate.” We wish an earlier normalization of relations with Japan, however, it is up to Tokyo’s decision. At first, instead of clamoring about what they call “suspicions of abduction” (of Japanese), Japan should make sincere and faithful efforts to address the fundamental questions existing between the two nations such as resolution of her past history.

Your country has undergone serious economic difficulties since 1994. How have you spent these hard times?

During the past five years of hardships, I have been profoundly distressed to think of the fates of our 20 million people. I wish to express my high gratitude for the humanitarian assistance received from the peoples of all over the world including South Korea, the U.S. and Japan and so forth.

What virtue do you think is essential for a leader?

You can never call anyone a leader who lacks popular support. No leader is privileged to lord it over the fellow countrymen as President Kim IL Sung said. A national leader must labor together with the people.

I suppose you are aware that the current inter-Korean summit caused a wave of “Kim Jong IL shock” or “Kim Jong IL syndrome” among the South Korean people.

I know that my image used to be much negative among the South Korean people due to floods of distorted information about me. And after I appeared on TV screens, I’m sure, they came to know that I am not like a man with horns on the head.

* At the end of her article Ms. Moon added that during the 6-hour-long interview the North Korean leader provided a variety of topics of conversation including Catholicism and Christianity, hot spas, Italian pizza, Korean cuisine, and etc., to say nothing of international relations. “A ‘Kim Jong IL shock’ hit the world. But who changed?,” she raises a question. “Has he made a make-over debut this time or remained unchanged? Doesn’t he just look like a different type of man because we changed our views of his personality?” “What is clear,” she commented, “is that we should begin a fresh study of Kim Jong IL in order to gain a correct understanding of the North Korean leader.”