North Korea has offered to send a delegation to the funeral of South Korea's late President Kim Dae-Jung, AFP reported Wednesday quoting a spokesman for the former president's family.
Park Ji-Won told reporters that the North's leader Kim Jong-il had sent a message of condolences to Kim Dae-Jung's family and former aides and announced he would send a special envoy to the funeral.
Kim Dae-jung, who died Tuesday at the age of 85, held the South's first-ever summit with the North in 2001 and was awarded the Nobel peace prize later that year. "The delegation will carry a wreath sent by Chairman Kim Jong-Il," Park was quoted as saying. Park said North Korea had indicated it would send a five-member delegation led by a secretary of its ruling communist party.
The North suggested the delegation could stay one day but its stay could be extended if needed. It would use a special plane flying directly to South Korea. The North asked for a quick reply to its offer after talks are held between Kim's family and the Seoul government, according to AFP.
Seoul's Unification Ministry, which handles cross-border relations, said it had not been told of such a plan by the North.
The date for Kim's funeral has not yet been fixed but Seoul's presidential office said Wednesday it would not object to representatives from Pyongyang.
Pyongyang's state news agency said earlier Wednesday that the leader had sent condolences on the death of Kim Dae-jung and praised his efforts to improve ties between the two nations.
"Though he passed away to our regret, the feats he performed to achieve national reconciliation and realize the desire for reunification will remain long with the nation," Kim Jong-Il was quoted as saying.
Cross-border relations have become icy since Seoul's new conservative government took a tougher line with Pyongyang last year, abandoning the decade-long "sunshine" engagement policy under Kim and his successor Roh Moo-hyun.