Bush: Face-off?

Moscow, March 30 (Reuters): North Korea?s reclusive leader Kim Jong-il could attend Russian World War II victory celebrations in May, raising the prospect of an unprecedented encounter with President George W. Bush.

Russian news agency Interfax quoted Konstantin Pulikovsky, an aide to President Vladimir Putin, as saying Kim had been invited to the celebrations to mark 60 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany.

?It is possible to expect Kim Jong-il?s arrival in Moscow for this event,? said Pulikovsky, Putin?s envoy in Russia?s Far Eastern region.

Both Bush ? whose administration has called North Korea an ?outpost of tyranny? ? and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun have said they will attend the Moscow ceremony on May 9.

The presence of Roh also suggests there could be an inter-Korean summit ? only the second in five years.