PM pledges to improve S-N ties

Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo, left, pays a courtesy call to Lee Hee-ho, the widow of President Kim Dae-jung, at the Kim Dae-jung Presidential Library and Museum in western Seoul, Thursday. / Yonhap

By Lee Min-hyung

New Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo has promised to help President Park Geun-hye improve inter-Korean ties.

Lee made the pledge on Thursday when he paid a courtesy call to Lee Hee-ho, the widow of President Kim Dae-jung.

“President Kim laid the foundation for thawing inter-Korean relations, holding the first inter-Korean summit in 2000,” Lee said at the Kim Dae-jung Presidential Library and Museum in western Seoul. “But I am worried about the bilateral ties that have recently been strained.”

He said he would do his best to prepare for the former first lady’s Pyongyang visit, scheduled for May, asking her to assume several roles to improve relations.

Lee Hee-ho has devoted herself to offering humanitarian help to starving North Korean children.

PM Lee then made a courtesy visit to former President Chun Doo-hwan and former Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil.