DJ Willing to Visit North Korea If Requested
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
Former President and Nobel Peace Laureate Kim Dae-jung is willing to visit North Korea if both Seoul and Pyongyang make the request, an aide said Monday.
Rep. Park Ji-won of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) said, however, Kim would visit the secretive state as a former head of state, not a special envoy.
``It came to my attention that the former President is willing to visit North Korea if the North and South invite him,'' Park said in a radio interview. ``But he will not, I think, find it necessary to make a visit if there is neither an invitation from the North nor a request from the South.''
Kim said in a press conference with foreign correspondents last Thursday he is not suitable for the post of special envoy.
``A special envoy should be a person the President has faith in and is consistently supported by,'' he said.
Since inter-Korean relations have soured since President Lee Myung-bak took office about a year ago, Kim was often cited as a possible coordinator to mend ties.
Kim won the Nobel Peace prize in 2000 after he held the first inter-Korean summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and announced the June 15 declaration for peaceful, reconciliatory efforts.
A joint industrial complex in the North Korean border city of Gaeseong is regarded as a byproduct of the agreement.
In regard to the North's recent threat against the South and the United States, the DP legislator said, ``Considering the timing, North Korea seemingly aims at grabbing attention from the Obama administration for negotiations and pressuring Seoul, which maintains its stance toward the communist regime.''
Pyongyang cut all communication channels and restricted border crossings last month in retaliation for Seoul's tougher North Korea policy.