Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 11, 1994 TAG: 9407110113
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA LENGTH: Medium
The government announced that a first-ever North-South summit had been postponed indefinitely.
"Because of the incident on our side, as announced, I inform you that the North-South meeting will not be held as scheduled," the North Korea told South Korea in a one-sentence letter today.
The two sides had agreed to the July 25 summit less than a month before Friday's death of longtime dictator Kim Il Sung.
North Korea, in its first major foreign-policy decision since Kim's death, also pushed back further high-level talks with the United States on North Korea's nuclear program until after Kim's funeral Sunday. It did not set a date for resumption.
Those talks opened in Geneva the day Kim died.
Meanwhile, diplomats and analysts were relying on eyewitness reports and close readings of official statements to discern what was happening in Pyongyang.
Kim Il Sung, who ran the country since 1948, had cultivated a slavish personality cult. In the wake of his death, South Korea had initially feared a chaotic power struggle might break out and spill across the border.
Today, South Korea remained wary - keeping its military on high alert and closely watching Northern troop movements. But no unusual activity was reported.
The power vacuum left by Kim's death apparently has been filled by his 52-year-old son, Kim Jong Il. The North's official news agency heaped praise on Kim Il Sung for his "greatest and priceless revolutionary feat" in picking a successor.
There were signs that the son was moving swiftly to consolidate his power base. Officials of the ruling Workers' Party were ordered to convene in Pyongyang by today to pay collective tribute to their late leader.
However, a senior South Korean official said the gathering could be meant to pave the way for the quick election of the younger Kim as party chief.
North Korea's state radio on Sunday broadcast even more programs than before extolling the younger Kim's virtues. It carried statements from a long line of top officials pledging loyalty to him.
In the demilitarized zone dividing the Koreas, cross-border loudspeaker announcements referred to Kim Jong Il as "His Excellency" - normally the term used to refer to the head of state.
South Korean officials took the developments as an indication that Kim Jong Il has managed to hold off hard-line military elements who were believed to be hoping to grab power upon his father's death.
Memo: lede