By Kang Seung-woo
A hotline between the leaders of the two Koreas was established under the Kim Dae-jung administration, but was disconnected several years later when Lee Myung-bak was in office, according to a former intelligence chief Friday.
"On the back of good inter-Korean relations under Kim's presidency, the hotline was set up," said Kim Man-bok, a former chief of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) under the Roh Moo-hyun administration.
It is the first time for a former government official to disclose the presence of a hotline between the leaders of South and North Korea.
Kim said the hotline was established at the NIS.
"Although it was classified information, the hotline operated 24 hours a day. The hotline was way different from the channel used now, operated by the unification ministry through the truce village of Panmunjom," he said.
Kim was in office from 1998-2003 and held the first historic inter-Korean summit in June 2000 with then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, father of Kim Jong-un.
Behind his "Sunshine Policy," which actively pushed for cross-border exchanges and reconciliation, inter-Korean ties enjoyed a heyday during his term.
Kim said that the private communication channel continued through the Roh government, contributing to the second inter-Korean summit in October 2007.
"We did not need a back channel when pushing for the second inter-Korean summit because the hotline was already operating," said Kim, one of the key figures to undertake plans for the meeting.
"The existing hotline helped us easily prepare for the summit with the North Koreans."
However, the hotline is no longer operating because former President Lee cut off the secretive communication channel after he took office in February 2008.
"It is very sad that the hotline was severed," he said.
Meanwhile, Kim Yang-gon, the North's top official in charge of inter-Korean affairs, visited Cheong Wa Dae shortly before the second inter-Korean summit to discuss details of the meeting, Kim said in his memoirs of the Roh administration's peace vision for the Korean Peninsula, co-authored by former Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung and Baek Jong-cheon, a former chief presidential security adviser.
"On Sept. 26, 2010, Kim with two other North Korean officials visited Seoul and President Roh received them," Kim said.
A hotline between the leaders of the two Koreas was established under the Kim Dae-jung administration, but was disconnected several years later when Lee Myung-bak was in office, according to a former intelligence chief Friday.
"On the back of good inter-Korean relations under Kim's presidency, the hotline was set up," said Kim Man-bok, a former chief of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) under the Roh Moo-hyun administration.
It is the first time for a former government official to disclose the presence of a hotline between the leaders of South and North Korea.
Kim said the hotline was established at the NIS.
"Although it was classified information, the hotline operated 24 hours a day. The hotline was way different from the channel used now, operated by the unification ministry through the truce village of Panmunjom," he said.
Kim was in office from 1998-2003 and held the first historic inter-Korean summit in June 2000 with then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, father of Kim Jong-un.
Behind his "Sunshine Policy," which actively pushed for cross-border exchanges and reconciliation, inter-Korean ties enjoyed a heyday during his term.
Kim said that the private communication channel continued through the Roh government, contributing to the second inter-Korean summit in October 2007.
"We did not need a back channel when pushing for the second inter-Korean summit because the hotline was already operating," said Kim, one of the key figures to undertake plans for the meeting.
"The existing hotline helped us easily prepare for the summit with the North Koreans."
However, the hotline is no longer operating because former President Lee cut off the secretive communication channel after he took office in February 2008.
"It is very sad that the hotline was severed," he said.
Meanwhile, Kim Yang-gon, the North's top official in charge of inter-Korean affairs, visited Cheong Wa Dae shortly before the second inter-Korean summit to discuss details of the meeting, Kim said in his memoirs of the Roh administration's peace vision for the Korean Peninsula, co-authored by former Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung and Baek Jong-cheon, a former chief presidential security adviser.
"On Sept. 26, 2010, Kim with two other North Korean officials visited Seoul and President Roh received them," Kim said.
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