The photographs of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun shaking hands were worth, well, a thousand words — diplomacy, hope, partnership and reunification, to name just a few.

But photos don't always tell the whole story, and while this week's summit between the leaders in Pyongyang is definitely a positive and necessary step, many rightly worry that the meeting, much like the 2000 summit with then-South Korean leader Kim Dae-jung, will be filled with more pomp and circumstance than concrete progress.

Let's start with the fact that the neighboring countries are still technically at war from the 1950-1953 Korean conflict. In July, Roh stated that the two Koreas must replace the current armistice with a peace agreement. Of course, this is a worthy, if not overdue, goal, but steps toward achieving it cannot begin until the issue of denuclearization is addressed.

For starters, a peace treaty requires the participation of both the United States and China — and the U.S. has made it clear that it will not endorse a treaty "as long as North Korea entertains the idea of holding nuclear weapons in its arsenal," according to reports. Roh should exercise his right under the 1992 inter-Korean joint denuclearization declaration to demand the North end its nuclear weapons program.

There is also the question of South Korean civilians who were abducted, and soldiers who were taken as prisoners of war who have been held in North Korea for decades since the conflict. Will they be granted repatriation as they deserve?

Such are the weighty issues that cannot be avoided if this summit is to add substance to the symbolic photographs.