S. Korea's unification chief upbeat on politicians' visits to North

South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jae Joung said Wednesday he is positive about various visits to North Korea by South Korean politicians, according to Yonhap News Agency.

''I am thinking in a positive way about various roles that politicians have played by visiting North Korea,'' Lee was quoted as saying in a seminar organized by a group of scholars on unification.

Lee's remarks were made after Chung Dong Young, former chairman of the pro-government Uri Party, made a one-day visit earlier Wednesday to the North Korean border city of Kaesong.

Before departing, Chung told Yonhap by telephone that he would propose at Kaesong that the second inter-Korean summit be held in Kaesong, an industrial city where South Korean companies are running factories with North Korean workers.

''Kaesong has political and economic significance, which makes it the best place for an inter-Korean leaders' summit,'' Chung was quoted as saying.

Earlier this month, Lee Hae Chan, an adviser to President Roh Moo Hyun, visited North Korea amid speculation his visit might be related to arrangements for a second inter-Korean summit.

In North Korea, Lee, a former prime minister, held a meeting with the North's No. 2 leader Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly.

Unification Minister Lee also said in the seminar, ''It is extremely important to let North Korean people know correctly the global trend through various routes.''

The landmark inter-Korean summit was held in June 2000 in Pyongyang between then South Korean President Kim Dae Jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

At the first-ever summit between the two Koreas, it was decided that the North's Kim would make a reciprocal visit to the South ''at an appropriate time.''