Leaders of two Koreas to meet at U.N.

President Kim Dae-Jung and Kim Yong-Nam, chairman of the presidium of the North Korean Supreme People`s Assembly, are expected to hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the U.N. Millennium Summit in New York Sept. 6-8.

The talks will be held on the first day of the U.N. General Assembly, in which the global body will open a debate on its role in the 21st century, a government official said. The planned meeting between President Kim and North Korea`s titular head of state will serve to reconfirm the historic significance of the June 15 inter-Korean summit and review progress in inter-Korean relations from then on.

The meeting will be the second round of bilateral talks between the two Koreas since their foreign ministers met on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Bangkok July 26 and agreed to promote South-North Korean solidarity in the international arena.

President Kim and Kim Yong-Nam are expected to discuss a wide range of inter-Korean issues, including relations in the wake of the June 15 summit talks and cooperation in international and economic affairs.