Left-wing urges for government-level delegation; Right-wing keeps silence, stresses security issues




Amid the aftermath of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s death, political responses varied on whether to pay a government-level condolence call to the communist state.

North Korea’s state funeral committee said Monday, shortly after Kim’s death was made public, that it would not receive any foreign delegations.

The gesture is, however, largely seen as a mere formality, as the country ended up accepting visitors back in 1994 when Kim’s father and the nation’s founder Kim Il-sung died.

The new main opposition Democratic Unified Party decided in its urgent Supreme Council meeting to request the government dispatch representatives to the funeral slated for next Wednesday.

“In order to promote peace and communication in the peninsula, a delegation is to visit North Korea and attend the funeral,” said Rep. Park Jie-won, former Democratic Party floor leader and aspiring chairman of the DUP.

Park also played a key role in the first inter-Korean summit back in 2000, when former liberal President Kim Dae-jung met North Korean leader Kim.

The Kim Dae-jung Peace Center and the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, both allied with former liberal presidents, urged the government to send a delegation or at least an official condolence message.

“Pyongyang sent a special delegation to Seoul when my husband passed away in 2009, and it is only right for us to do in return,” the Kim Dae-jung Peace Center spokesperson quoted former first lady Lee Hee-ho as saying.

The North Korean regime also sent its delegates to the funeral of former Hyundai chairman Chung Ju-young, who boosted the now-stalled North Korean tourism business for South Koreans.

The ruling Grand National Party refrained from confirming its stance over the funeral attendance and only underlined the need to reinforce national security measures.

“We urge the government to fully ready itself for all possible factors which may affect our national security,” said the party’s spokesperson, after the party’s emergency meeting was held under the chairmanship of Rep. Park Geun-hye.

The condolence call issue was raised during the closed-door meeting, but little progress was made toward a decision as the funeral is more than a week away, according to the party’s floor spokesperson.

While the party has yet decided on its official stance, some individual lawmakers expressed their opinion through their Twitter and personal webpages.

“The government should pay the minimum respect on a formality level and refrain from dispatching an official delegation,” said Rep. Won Hee-ryong of the GNP.

“However, it is not to ban private condolence calls, should the former first lady wish to express her courtesy.”

Rep. Kwon Young-se expressed his sympathy, though he made it clear that North Korea’s military attacks were nevertheless to be denounced.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)