Jakarta (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will visit Pyongyang "in the next few months" to "seek to find a solution to tensions dividing the Korean Peninsula". This was announced by the president's spokesman, Dino Pati Djalal, yesterday.
"The exact timetable has not been set but it is expected that the summit will be held within the next several months," he said.
Susilo has already asked Kim Jong-il, the North Korean dictator, to visit Jakarta to discuss ways to ease diplomatic tension between Pyongyang and Seoul, but his requests have been in vain. The only visit dates back to 1965, when Kim accompanied his father, "the Eternal President", Kim Il-sung, on a guided tour of the South-east Asian country.
Indonesia has had diplomatic ties with the Stalinist regime for years: the diplomatic policy of the nation was established by Sukarno, the first president of Indonesia.
Indonesia's Special Envoy to North Korea Nana Sutresna visited Pyongyang last week to broker an inter-Korean defense ministers' meeting.
