UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday said he hopes for a successful North and South Korean summit that would build a "solid" foundation for peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, according to dpa. Ban said in a statement that the summit should lead to increased inter-Korean reconciliation, cooperation and co-prosperity, and contribute to advancing negotiations to denuclearize the peninsula and ensure security in Northeast Asia. "I wish the two leaders success in using this historic occasion to lay a solid foundation for peace and stability on the Korean peninsula," Ban said. Ban was a foreign minister of South Korea before taking the UN top post in January. South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun is to meet his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang on Tuesday, in a gathering whose major aim is to negotiate a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War. "Many issues will be on the agenda, but I'll prioritize the establishment of a permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula," Roh said Monday in Seoul on the 59th anniversary of the South Korean Armed Forces.
