NK Reports on Memorial Wreath Sent by Kim Dae Jung’s Widow

Lee Hee Ho, widow of former south Korean
President Kim Dae Jung and president of the Kim Dae Jung Peace Center, and Hyun Jeong Eun, chairwoman of the Hyundai Group, have sent wreaths to North Korea to
commemorate the third anniversary of the death of former leader Kim Jong Il.

Rodong Sinmun reported on the event today,
stating,
Wreaths were separately conveyed to Won Tong
Yon, vice-chairman of the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, by Pa[r]k Ji Won,
vice-president of the Kim Dae Jung Peace Center, and by Jo Kon Sik, president
of Hyundai Asan Co. Ltd, in Kaesong on Tuesday.”

On December 16th, Park Ji Won, a main opposition lawmaker with the New Politics Alliance for Democracy and vice-president of the Kim Dae Jung Peace Center, along with seven of the organizations employees, traveled to the North to deliver the wreath at the Kaesong Industrial Complex.

The publication went on to report that
accompanying the floral arrangement was a consolatory message from Lee and Hyun, to which Kim Jong Eun replied with a message of thanks delivered through Vice Chairman Won.  No details on the contents of the message were introduced in the article. Kim Jong Eun also conveyed, again through Won Tong Yon, that Lee is welcome to visit Pyongyang anytime she pleases.

Vice Chairman Won Tong Yon
expressed his expectations for inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation next
year,
Assemblyman Park said to reporters upon his
return to the South.
I felt that he was strongly
committed to dialogue.

Meanwhile, Ha Tae Kyung, criticized the move by Assemblyman Park of the New
Politics Alliance for Democracy yesterday, citing numerous examples where the
representative has made statements supporting the regime and Kim Jong Eun
s strengthening of power, while opposing the passing of North Korean
human rights legislation in the South Korean National Assembly.