hankyoreh

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il called himself an "Internet expert" during his summit talks with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun in Pyongyang on Wednesday, according to the South's summit delegates.

Kim allegedly made the remark as Roh suggested opening the Internet at the South-invested industrial park in the North's border town of Kaesong, said the delegates.

"At the summit talks, Roh stressed the need to help facilitate business operations of South Korean firms operating at the Kaesong industrial park by opening Internet service there. But Kim turned down Roh's offer," said a delegate, asking to remain anonymous.

"The North Korean leader called himself an Internet expert and said many problems would arise if the Internet at the Kaesong park is connected to other parts of North Korea," said the delegate.

Indeed, Roh said during his visit to Kaesong on Thursday that Kim seems to be very familiar with the technical aspects of the Internet.

A North Korean official also told South Korean reporters during the summit talks that Kim has a deep interest in information technology, and instructed the launch of an information technology project at a public library in Pyongyang.

The British weekly news magazine The Economist reported last February that North Korean leader Kim has interests in modern technology beyond dabbling in nuclear weapons, believing there are three kinds of fools in the 21st century: smokers, the tone-deaf and computer illiterates.

In 2000, Kim famously asked then U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright for her e-mail address, demonstrating his strong interest in science and technology.

According to the magazine, North Korea opened its own nationwide intranet in 2000 by establishing a network of fiber-optic cables across the country. The Internet is still off-limits to the majority of ordinary citizens, as only several thousand people in North Korea have direct access to the network, it said.

SEOUL, Oct. 5 (Yonhap)