 Democratic Party Chairman |
Staff Reporter
The leader of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) said Thursday that members of the party will always be ready to visit Pyongyang for dialogue with North Korean officials.
Before making a one-day trip to the inter-Korean industrial park in the North Korean city of Gaeseong, Chairman Chung Sye-kyun said, ``To help resolve the impasse in inter-Korean relations, our party will actively promote bipartisan talks,'' urging the Lee Myung-bak administration to implement the Oct. 4 summit declaration made last year.
Chung and about 40 other DP lawmakers visited the Gaeseong Industrial Complex on the occasion of the first anniversary of the declaration made by former President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
The eight-point declaration calls for, among others, the creation of a special peace zone around Haeju in North Korea and nearby areas, ending the current armistice and establishing permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula, and the implementation of the June 15 Joint Declaration signed between former President Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il in 2000. Also included in the historic accord were humanitarian cooperation and the expansion of reunions of separated family members.
Chung urged the Lee administration to soften its hardline stance on the communist North.
Rep. Song Min-soon, who served as foreign minister under the Roh government, also called for implementation of last year's declaration which called for mutual respect, the easing of military tensions and support for inter-Korean economic cooperation.
The United Nations supported the inter-Korean agreement last year, he added.
Conservative President Lee vowed to take a tougher stance unlike his predecessors Roh and Kim who pursued a policy of engaging the North.
Since Lee's inauguration, Pyongyang has cut all communication channels with the South and kicked South Korean officials out of its territory in March.
President Lee has left the door open for talks, saying Seoul is willing to talk about whether or not to implement the two declarations.
The North, however, claims the implementation of both accords must come before any dialogue.
Former President Roh lashed out at the incumbent government's North Korea policy in a ceremony to commemorate the first anniversary of the Oct. 4 accord.
He insisted that the Lee government put South-North ties back into a strained state by disregarding the agreement.
The governing Grand National Party (GNP) hit back, saying Roh had made inappropriate remarks as a former leader.
``He is not supposed to make comments regarding politics. I doubt if the people would like for him to engage in politics,'' GNP Chairman Park Hee-tae said.
ksy@koreatimes.co.kr
