SEOUL North Korean leader Kim Jong-il will visit Seoul this year, according to a government official.
The National Defense Commission chairman s schedule for visiting South Korea will be fixed next month, he said on condition of anonymity Aug. 21.
The South and North will finalize the National Defense Commission chairmans return visit to South Korea next month," the official said.
He indicated Kim Jong-il will visit the South, probably around November. "As far as I know, the two leaders are quite busy in September and October," he said.
The North Korean leader s schedule is expected to be fixed when Kim Yong-sun, chairman of the Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, visits Seoul next month, he said.
It is still unclear, however, whether the second inter-Korean summit will take place in Seoul or another location in the South.
In his recent meeting with the heads of South Korean media organizations in Pyongyang, the North Korean leader said his deputies have been preparing for a program for his planned visit to the South.
He told them he will visit the South, but he has yet to specify the timing of the event.
The North Korean leader said he hoped to pay homage at the tomb of his great-grandfather, located in the southwestern city of Chonju.
Meanwhile, the South and the North will kick off relinking construction of the 20-km severed section of the border railroad simultaneously around Sept. 15, according to the government official.
The two sides will hold a groundbreaking ceremony around the Chusok holiday inside the truce village of Panmunjom, the official said.
The official said the two Koreas have been discussing whether the two sides will construct a joint station or independent stations inside the Demilitarized Zone.