Erroneous report says NK leader to visit Iran for summit

"Kim Jong Un, first secretary of North Korean ruling Workers’ Party, will visit Iran to attend a Non Aligned Movement meeting."

The foreign affairs and national security-related ministries of South Korea entered a state of emergency as foreign media carried news reports on Kim`s alleged trip on early Wednesday morning. The reports turned out to be false, however, originating from an Iranian media outlet unfamiliar with the North`s governance system.

The incident surfaced after the Iranian online media site Tabnak said, “Kim Jong Un has decided to attend the Non Aligned Movement meeting, which is scheduled in the Iranian capital of Tehran from Aug. 26 to Aug. 31.” Several Arab news organizations quoted the report to file stories.

The news spread widely after German news agency DPA filed a report reading, “Kim Jong Un picked Iran as destination of his first overseas tour,” at 3 a.m. Wednesday quoting the Tabnak report.

In Seoul, foreign affairs and national security-related ministries scrambled to confirm the accuracy of the report since Kim’s visit to Iran would hold significant meaning if confirmed.

The Non-Aligned Movement was formed in 1961 by developing countries that chose not to ally themselves with the U.S. or the Soviet Union in the Cold War era. North Korea has also emphasized neutral diplomacy since joining the movement in 1975.

The Stalinist country`s founder Kim Il Sung made his lone appearance at the movement`s conference in Indonesia in 1965 to mark the 10th anniversary of the Bandung Meeting, which led to the launch of the movement.

Among North Korean officials, only Prime Minister Yon Hyong Muk, Vice President Pak Song Chol, and the head of the North Korean parliament Kim Yong Nam have attended the movement`s summit, which is held every three years.

If Kim Jong Un visits Iran to attend the movement`s summit before visiting China, the closest ally of North Korea, it could mean that he will seek to stage multilateral diplomacy that goes beyond engaging China and shows a step going forward.

A move to grow closer to Iran, a nation hostile to the U.S. and suspected of connections with the North on nuclear weapons and missile development, could be seen as an attempt to pressure the U.S. Whether the North`s leader will meet U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is considering attending the conference, is also attracting speculation.

The furor caused by Wednesday’s false news ended around 2 p.m. after the South Korean Embassy in Iran, which sought to verify the report, informed the South Korean Foreign Ministry, “The report on Kim Jong Un’s attendance at the Non Aligned Movement summit has been confirmed to be groundless.”

Iran’s official news agency IRNA also confirmed Wednesday afternoon that Kim Jong Un will not attend the summit, quoting a spokesman for the movement.

The erroneous news report is believed to stem from misunderstanding of the North‘s governance system. The Stalinist country’s Constitution says, “The executive chairman of the Supreme People’s Assembly will represent the state,” but while Kim Jong Un is the North’s supreme leader, its titular head of state is Kim Yong Nam.

The spokesman for the Non Aligned Movement who was originally interviewed by Tabnak said, “North Korea’s head of state is attending,” but did not mention Kim Jong Un’s name. Seoul judges that a Tabnak reporter who blindly thought of Kim Jong Un as the North’s leader wrote “Kim Jong Un is coming,” and other news organizations picked up this alleged scoop. Kim Yong Nam, however, will reportedly attend the meeting.

will71@donga.com lightee@donga.com