DATE=01/17/2001

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-271461

TITLE=KIM DAE-JUNG/NOKOR - L

BYLINE=HYUN-SUNG KHANG

DATELINE=SEOUL

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: South Korean President Kim Dae-jung says communist North Korea appears to be aspiring to major changes and may take a cue from Chinese market reforms. As Hyun-Sung Khang reports from Seoul, the comments come as North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has reportedly made his second trip to China in less than a year.

TEXT: South Korean President Kim Dae-jung says North Korea may be studying the economic reform path of its closest communist ally China - and this is a positive development. He says Pyongyang is trying to undertake enormous changes in the country and that these moves will boost rapprochement between the two Koreas.

The president's spokesman says Mr. Kim made his comments during a high-level security meeting in Seoul following reports North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was touring Shanghai and meeting with Chinese officials.

The North Korean leader made a similar visit to China last year, shortly before the first-ever summit in Pyongyang in June between North and South Korean leaders. South Korean officials believe the latest Chinese visit bodes well for planned second Korean summit this time in Seoul - expected later this year.

Beijing has been encouraging Pyongyang to adopt Chinese-style economic reforms and abandon its isolationist past. North Korea's economy is currently in shambles following years of famine and disastrous economic policies. Chinese soldiers and North Korean troops fought side-by-side during the 1950s Korean War. China is North Korea's only remaining communist ally and has backed rapproachment between the two Koreas.

South Korea under the leadership of Nobel Laureate and President Kim Dae-jung has been widely credited with warming Cold War relations by trying to engage, rather than isolate, North Korea. (Signed)

NEB/HK/HSK/HB/JO