Moon suggests former 1st lady visit Pyongyang as special envoy

By Lee Min-hyung

Rep. Moon Jae-in

The government should send former first lady Lee Hee-ho as a special envoy to Pyongyang, Rep. Moon Jae-in, former presidential candidate of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), said Monday.

“Lee’s visit to the North as a special envoy will serve as momentum to resume stalled inter-Korean dialogue,” said Moon during a meeting of the party’s emergency planning committee.

Lee, the widow of former President Kim Dae-jung, expressed her desire to make a humanitarian visit to the reclusive regime. President Park Geun-hye also agreed with Lee’s plan when they met late last month.

But this is the first time the suggestion has been made that Lee should visit there as a special envoy.

Given the possibility that Lee as a special envoy may meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the visit may help resume stalled high-level talks.

The two Koreas were to hold the dialogue no later than early November, but this was stalled following border-area leaflet campaigns led by a group of North Korean defectors and activist groups here.

They have released balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets near the Demilitarized Zone. The North fired at the balloons last month, and scrapped the much-anticipated dialogue.

Moon called on the government to support a plan to improve bilateral ties between the Koreas.

“I request the government widely utilize our party’s experience that reaped fruit in inter-Korean matters whenever bilateral relations deteriorated,” he said.

The Ministry of Unification expressed hopes that Lee’s visit as a special envoy might happen.

“We hope Lee’s trip is arranged in a way to contribute to improving inter-Korean relations,” the ministry’s spokesman Lim Byeong-cheol said at a regular briefing Monday.

On Friday, a group of aides to Lee met with North Korean officials to discuss a detailed schedule for her trip. Both sides agreed that she will visit the North by car, but the exact date of the trip has not been confirmed.

It is widely expected that the North wants Lee to visit Pyongyang on the third anniversary of the North’s late leader Kim Jong-il’s death, which falls on Dec. 17.

But Lee’s side hinted at avoiding the date in consideration of possible political controversy.