South Korea greenlit a request to visit
North Korea made by Hyun Jeong Eun, chairwoman of the Hyundai Group, while
rejecting a proposal from a main opposition lawmaker with the New Politics
Alliance for Democracy and vice-president of the Kim Dae Jung Peace Center,
Park Ji Won on Tuesday. However, it said it would allow officials from the
Peace Center to make the cross-border journey. This comes after two delegations
respectively requested approval from the South Korean government to visit the
Kaesong Industrial Complex on December 24th.
“Given that Rep. Park visited the North on
the 16th, we decided to turn down the proposal as we believe in overall it is
not appropriate for a politician to visit again,” an official from Seoul’s
Ministry of Unification said. “We did take into consideration the fact that it
could spark up a political debate.”
Regarding approval for the Hyundai
Group chairwoman and the Peace Center members, the same official stated it to be based on humanitarian grounds, as it is an extension of the
visit made on the 16th to commemorate the third anniversary of former North
Korean leader Kim Jong Il’s death.
As such, seven people will make the trip
from Kim Dae Jung Peace Center, including former culture minister Kim Song Jae,
and seven will travel as part of Hyun’s delegation on the 24th.
The journey follows an invitation extended
by North Korea’s Kim Yang Gon, director of the United Front Department of the
Chosun Workers’ Party on Friday, to express gratitude to those who sent condolences
for Kim Jong Il.
