[imText1]Despite strong opposition from some experts, Kim Dae Jung has continued to pursue a visit to North Korea, emphasizing it as his ‘last service for this country’. However, the visit has been cancelled indefinitely.
On the 21st, Jeong Se Hyun, former Minister of Unification and the head representative of the contact process for DJ’s official visit to North Korea, revealed that, “Due to the unexpected situation, the June visit arranged last May will be postponed indefinitely”, meaning that due to the missile launch, the timing is no longer good for a visit.
Yet, some critics point out that given the passive attitude North Korea has shown throughout the contact process for the visit, the cancellation was to be expected.
The South and North mutually agreed on the 4-day visit, which was supposed to begin on the 27th of last month, at the conclusion of their second round of negotiations. The third round of negotiations was scheduled to take place from the 7th to the 9th of this month, but North Korea unilaterally cancelled it. Additionally, the North avoided any discussion of particulars, with the evasive statement, “We will give you an answer later” at the Gwangju 6.15 event, which suqsequently produced no clear answer.
Given these situations, the cancellation of former president Kim Dae Jung’s visit is likely not only due to the ‘unexpected situation’ of the missile launch threat.
“North Korea just wanted DJ to take a rest. What is unification?”
North Korea invited former president Jimmy Carter as a special envoy in 1994 when it faced a serious crisis due to its possession of nuclear weapons. Similarly, DJ’s visit could be an attempt to stay in contact with the U.S, according to UN assistant Han Seung Ryeol, who said that the North may be looking to lead the missile conflict into a talk with the U.S. In spite of this, North Korea was not in support of the DJ visit to North Korea.
A discussion regarding DJ’s visit to North Korea initially broached last year when Kim Jong Il officially mentioned the idea through Jeong Dong Young, former Minister of Unification in Pyongyang. Last year the North Korean representative of the 8.15 event recommended that visit North Korea, and the government also strongly supported the visit. Nevertheless, North Korea apparently came to reconsider their initial thoughts, as the time for DJ’s visit grew near.
Some concluded that Kim Jong Il does not favor DJ’s visit itself, even though it was assumed that North Korea would invite DJ to North Korea simply as he is the president of the 6.15 Summit Talks. However, DJ wished to discuss unification and the national fate together, a topic which may have led to some discomfort from Kim Jong Il.
Professor Nam Seung Uk of the North Korea department of Korea University said that, “It may be that Kim Jong Il was uncomforatble with the possibility that DJ would encourage a return visit in the South, putting Kim in an awkward position if he did not agree”, adding, “Additionally, due to the nuclear weapons and economic sanctions, which need to be discussed with the U.S, Kim Jong Il would think DJ’s visit useless to him”.
In reality, a discussion on unification and ‘national fate’ could be far from the mind of Kim Jong Il in inviting DJ to the North, a topic which could be discussed at a working-level talk. Furthermore, North Korea could have taken a more active role in the construction of the talks and the visit. I am still insure why North Korea showed such a passive attitude regarding the visit.
“If he ignores captives and abductees problems, he is disqualified to talk about ‘national fate’”
It is also pertinent to note the gift of 500 million dollars that DJ gave to Kim Jong Il at the 2000 Summit Talks. Some experts supposed that North Korea may have expected to be awarded a similar gift this time as well. Yet it seems that as DJ was not ready to bestow such a gift, North Korea took a step back. If a financial gift had been on the horizon, the likelihood of a successful visit would have certainly increased.
On the day after the cancellation, an interesting thing occured. In regard to the cancellation, DJ criticized South Korean conservatives rather than blaming Kim Jong Il. He said that the conservatives were using the missile conflict for their own purposes, taking the side of Kim Jong Il.
South and North Korean cooperation needs to be based on mutual trust. However, the South Korean government is unilaterally attempting to cooperate with North Korea. It is uncertain why the South Korean government does so. with DJ, the initiator, only inflaming the situation.
South Koreans have never requested that DJ meet with Kim Jong Il to discuss the national fate with him. DJ should reconsider whether or not he is the right person to discuss the matter. He was awarded a Nobel prize at the cost of the North Korean captives and abductees. In addition, he should question whether or not he is qualified to be a representative of the national fate, as he refused the request of abductees’ families for a meeting.
