| Former SK President to Meet NK Leader | |
| Kim Dae Jung plans visit to Pyongyang to promote North-South dialogue | |
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Terence Mitchell (terence) 
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In an interview published in the JoongAng Monthly, a Korean magazine, the former president explained that he had already received the invitation from the North Korean government, as well as the blessings of current President Roh Moo Hyun on the trip, but added he was still waiting on word from his doctors whether his fragile health would allow such a grueling journey to the North.
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| ▲ Kim Dae Jung, left, and Kim Jong Il during their historic summit in Pyongyang, June 13, 2000. | |
| ⓒ2005 Press Photographers Union |
Although the talks are currently in danger of collapsing due to a North Korean boycott, there had been much progress made just recently when in August the North Korean delegation agreed to stop all nuclear weapons and power manufacturing in return for financial and economic aid from the other five nations.
Talks however soon turned sour again during the autumn as the American and North Korean delegations argued over the North Korea's insistence on receiving aid before shutting down its nuclear power stations, leading to an abrupt end to talks last month.
The first issue Kim would like to present to the North Korean government is the importance of the talks being held between the six countries, and that they become a continual forum of regional dialogue, having a permanent base in Beijing.
Kim stated in the interview that he will ask the North Korean government to be less sensitive about the Bush administration's recent criticism of North Korea as a rogue nation. "Though the American neo-cons tend to use tough language while negotiating, they have no military backing to carry out their threats," he explained, referring to South Korea's stiff resolve that there be no foreign military strikes on the Korean peninsula.
Another reason for his visit, he said yesterday, was to help bring about his long-held vision of a non-binding "Korean federation" with "the first step being the establishment of a North-South Federation Committee" whose role would be to "provide a forum for the two Koreas to discuss reunification issues and details together."
Many analysts believe that Kim has perhaps the best chance of any politician here to bring about real progress in peace negotiations between the two neighboring countries (who are technically still at war since a military armistice signed in 1953), mainly due to his development of warm personal relations with the North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
During his presidency from 1998-2002, thanks to the South Korean administration's "sunshine policy," South Korea re-opened diplomatic ties with the North Korean government and even began to lobby internationally on the North Korea's behalf for more trade and diplomacy with the isolated nation.
Relations between the two countries warmed to such an extent that in 2000 Kim decided to make a visit to Pyongyang to meet his North Korean counterpart and discuss the two nations' "joint destiny." This visit, the first of its kind between the two nations and seen by many here as the beginning of the reunification process between North and South, earned Kim the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize.
It is expected that it may be some time before the former president can make such a visit, mainly due to his ailing health, though the 79-year-old insists his health "is a lot better these days." Earlier this year, Kim was hospitalized for several weeks with severe pneumonia and kidney problems, and it remains unclear whether he has made a full recovery.
| OhmyNews reporter Kim Dang contributed to this article. |
2005/12/20 오후 11:50
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