South Korea has yet to decide whether to offer condolences over the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, a senior official said Tuesday amid concern the conciliatory gesture could bring a backlash from conservatives ahead of next year's general elections.
Whether to send condolences on the sudden death of Kim has stirred controversy in South Korea's political circles since the death was announced by the North's state media on Monday.
"It's not a matter that can be prolonged, but making a decision right now is tough," the senior presidential official said on condition of anonymity.
"There are many opinions" over the issue of offering condolences on the death of Kim, the official said.
North Korea declared a 13-day mourning period through Dec. 29, while stating it will not accept foreign delegations at a funeral ceremony scheduled to be held in Pyongyang on Dec. 28.
South Korea and other nations have cautiously reacted to the death of Kim, as the fate of the communist regime moves to the hands of Kim's youngest and yet-untested son, Jung-un.
In Seoul, opposition lawmakers and liberal activists have urged their government to send a condolence delegation to North Korea.
"The government should form a small delegation and have it pay a condolence visit," Democratic Unity Party lawmaker Kim Dong-chul said. "It is necessary to take (Kim's death) as an opportunity to improve inter-Korean relations."
The ruling Grand National Party (GNP), which has supported the Lee Myung-bak administration's hard-line policy with North Korea, held an emergency meeting to discuss the matter. The conservative party, however, remained cautious over the issue, considering the lingering animosity against the communist state that killed 50 South Koreans last year in two deadly armed provocations, for which it hasn't offered an official apology yet.
"The ruling party should be careful," GNP floor leader Hwang Woo-yea said. "We have to make a cautious decision based on people's opinions."
South Korea did not officially send condolences over the death of the North's late national leader Kim Il-sung when he died in the summer of 1994, which contributed to worsening inter-Korean relations for years.
On Tuesday, Won Sei-hoon, head of the spy agency National Intelligence Service, said he does not think the Seoul government should offer official condolences over the death. He also said the United States and Japan expressed sympathy to the North Korean people, not to Kim Jong-il.
Won also suggested, however, that the government may allow non-governmental entities to pay condolence visits.
"It would be difficult for the government to offer condolences," Won said during an emergency meeting of the parliamentary intelligence committee. "But we will discuss the issue of an expression of condolences by the National Assembly, political parties or private groups in a forward-looking manner." (Yonhap)