President Roh Moo-hyun has addressed the nation Tuesday morning regarding his three-day trip to Pyongyang to hold the second ever inter-Korean summit talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il before leaving for Pyongyang.

The president said in his statement that the second summit will be a calmer and more practical session compared to seven years ago, also stressing that much emphasis will be put on finding specific ways of promoting a peace regime on the peninsula and pushing forward with economic cooperation and development.

Mr. Roh also said that if the first inter-Korean summit in 2000, between then president Kim Dae-jung and his counterpart Kim Jong-il, provided a new opening for the two countries, this round of talks will remove many of the existing obstacles and speed up the relationship between the two countries.

The president added he will make all efforts to ease military tension and build up trust with the North and try to produce substantial results in addressing humanitarian issues as well.

Mr. Roh said there may be limits to what he can do given the short time he has left in office and therefore he will not be too aggressive in producing results, but emphasized he will not shy away from certain issues either.

After addressing the nation, Mr. Roh left for Pyongyang in his presidential limousine at eight a.m. to head to the demilitarized zone in which he will cross over the military demarcation line by foot, the first time ever for a Korean president to do so since the peninsula was divided.