hankyoreh

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il concluded the first round of their summit talks shortly before noon on Wednesday after in-depth discussions on measures to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula and cross-border economic cooperation, Roh's spokesman said.

The talks between Roh and Kim were to resume at 2:30 p.m.,

Cheon Ho-seon said in a media briefing.

The talks began at 9:34 a.m. at the Paekhwawon State Guest House, the official accommodation of the South Korean president and his official delegates.

The South Korean side also included four senior officials -- Economy and Finance Minister Kwon O-kyu, Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung, National Intelligence Service chief Kim Man-bok and chief presidential secretary for foreign and security policy, Baek Jong-chun.

The North Korean leader came to the meeting with Kim Yang-gon, director of the United Front Department of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party.

North Korean leader Kim arrived at the entrance of the state guest house at 9:27 a.m. and was greeted by Roh, first lady Kwon Yang-suk and the South's special delegates.

Shaking hands with Roh and Kwon, Kim asked, "Did you sleep well?" and the president replied, "I had a good night's sleep. The accommodation is very satisfactory."

While walking together towards the meeting room, the two leaders talked to each other about a wall painting of waves in a sea. In the conversation, Roh was heard telling Kim, "I was very worried about (recent) flood damage in North Korea. On my way here (to Pyongyang), I found everything is in good order."

In reply, Kim said Roh may have experienced some inconvenience due to the North's flood-damaged expressway, referring to the South Korean president's overland trip from Seoul to Pyongyang on Tuesday.

"(Former South Korean President) Kim Dae-jung flew into North Korea (for the first inter-Korean summit in June 2000). But you walked across the (inter-Korean) military demarcation line. That was very meaningful," said the North Korean leader.

Prior to the opening of the talks, the two leaders posed for a photo.

Roh and Kim briefly met at a warm welcoming ceremony in the North Korean capital on Tuesday after the South Korean president walked across the heavily fortified inter-Korean border to enter the communist North.

Roh, who has vowed to put a Korean Peninsula peace arrangement formally ending the 1950-53 Korean War at the top of his summit agenda, became the first South Korean head of state to travel overland to North Korea. The talks come amid an upbeat mood in negotiations for North Korea's nuclear disarmament and a permanent peace mechanism on the Korean Peninsula.

The Roh-Kim meeting marks the first inter-Korean summit in seven years, following the first one held in June 2000 between then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and the North Korean leader.

Roh and Kim were expected to hold another round of summit talks in the afternoon before watching, probably together, the North's controversial Arirang mass gymnastics performance in the evening.

Following the performance, Roh will host a dinner for ranking North Korean officials and the South's leading delegates at the People's Palace of Culture in downtown Pyongyang.

According to officials accompanying Roh, the leaders are expected to broadly discuss issues related to inter-Korean co-prosperity, peace, unification and economic cooperation, and may reach agreements on the South's participation in massive infrastructure and industrial development projects in the North.

Depending on the results of the talks, the two leaders may adopt a joint statement, which would take the form of a "peace declaration" late at night, said the officials.

PYONGYANG, Oct. 3 (Yonhap)