By Lee Jin-woo
Staff Reporter
Former President Kim Dae-jung has expressed his willingness to visit North Korea again as long as his health permits him to go on the trip, reports said.
In a recent interview with Monthly JoongAng magazine, Kim, 79, said, ``I’d like to visit North Korea again if my doctors say I’m healthy enough to go. I’ve been repeatedly invited by the North’s leadership to visit Pyongyang. Besides, President Roh Moo-hyun has also suggested I take a trip to the North.’’
The former president has been hospitalized twice at Yonsei University’s Severance Hospital in Seoul earlier this year due to pneumonia-like symptoms.
On Dec. 8, President Roh made a phone call to Kim to congratulate him on the fifth anniversary of his winning the Nobel Peace Prize, promising his administration’s support if Kim makes a trip to the communist North.
``I’ll visit the North not as a special envoy of President Roh, but as a person who is worried about the future of the peninsula,’’ he said.
He revealed his wish to discuss ways to establish a permanent communication channel based on the six-party framework to handle various issues for the sake of peace on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.
On the subject of South-North confederation, the first stage of three unification steps mentioned in his speech in commemoration of receiving the Nobel Prize, he said the two Koreas could set up a body, which will enable the heads of state, cabinet members, and lawmakers of the South and North to discuss and cooperate on a regular basis.
Though the confederation system will not be compulsory, it will greatly help the two Koreas take a big step toward our long dream of unification, reconciliation and development, he added.
In the speech, he described the confederation as ``a system where both the South and the North maintain their rights as sovereign states while gradually preparing for unification.’’
As for harsh criticism of the North recently made by ranking officials from the Bush administration, Kim said, ``I don’t believe those neo-cons have enough power to carry out what they claim into a military attack. South Korea has maintained an alliance with the U.S. in pursuit of peace on the peninsula, not a war.’’
Regarding rallies by anti-American protesters against a controversial statue of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, a U.S. commander in the Korean War (1950-53), in Inchon, west of Seoul, Kim reiterated his objection to removing the statue.
``What those protesters claim is like saying South Korea should have been completely occupied by the communist North during the Korean War,’’ Kim said. ``I’m not saying we should worship the general, but should appreciate his efforts and his commitment to saving the nation from communist takeover.’’
Kim said he regrets not making enough effort to narrow the gap between the haves and have-nots in Korean society during his administration.
``The information era tends to widen the gap between the upper and the lower half of society. The government should generate more and more policies to help less-privileged groups in society.’’
things@koreatimes.co.kr
댓글 안에 당신의 성숙함도 담아 주세요.
'오늘의 한마디'는 기사에 대하여 자신의 생각을 말하고 남의 생각을 들으며 서로 다양한 의견을 나누는 공간입니다. 그러나 간혹 불건전한 내용을 올리시는 분들이 계셔서 건전한 인터넷문화 정착을 위해 아래와 같은 운영원칙을 적용합니다.
자체 모니터링을 통해 아래에 해당하는 내용이 포함된 댓글이 발견되면 예고없이 삭제 조치를 하겠습니다.
불건전한 댓글을 올리거나, 이름에 비속어 및 상대방의 불쾌감을 주는 단어를 사용, 유명인 또는 특정 일반인을 사칭하는 경우 이용에 대한 차단 제재를 받을 수 있습니다. 차단될 경우, 일주일간 댓글을 달수 없게 됩니다.
명예훼손, 개인정보 유출, 욕설 등 법률에 위반되는 댓글은 관계 법령에 의거 민형사상 처벌을 받을 수 있으니 이용에 주의를 부탁드립니다.
Close
x