He is 82 years old and on a recent day was still frail from a winter bout of pneumonia. But Kim Dae-jung is planning what could be his last great act for inter-Korean conciliation -- an inaugural train trip from Seoul to Pyongyang.
"I would like to visit North Korea by train -- the railroad connecting the North and the South has been finalized," South Korea's former president said, sketching out a rail ride that would be a terrestrial echo of his June 2000 flight to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, which thawed half a century of war and enmity between the Koreas.
"I have plans to go North Korea," Kim said in his home here as shadows lengthened in a reception room decorated with covers of US news magazines that celebrated his first trip, a journey that won him the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize.
On Friday, general-level military talks between the Koreas ended inconclusively. In this mood of paralysis, Kim contends he can use his personal prestige in the North to inaugurate the rail line with a train trip north in June.
Kim left office in January 2003. His groundbreaking trip was soon clouded by allegations that the South Korean government and Hyundai Asan Corp had paid hundreds of millions of dollars to North Korea to ensure that the summit meeting took place. In December 2003, Park Jie-won, Kim's chief of staff, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for bribing North Korea in the case.
Roh Moo-hyun, South Korea's current president and a protege of Kim, limited the scope of the investigation to presidential aides. Since then, Kim has lived here unmolested by prosecutors, gradually becoming the grand old man of South Korean politics.
The legacy of Kim's 2000 gesture to North Korea, expensive as it was, can be seen in new numbers for last year.
Last year, inter-Korean trade grew by more than 50 percent, topping US$1 billion. Nearly 300,000 South Koreans visited Mount Kumgang, a tourism enclave in North Korea operated by Hyundai Asan, and 87,000 South Koreans visited Pyongyang, more than triple the number in 2004. This summer, Hyundai plans trial tours to a third North Korean destination, Mount Paektu.
This year, Hyundai Asan hopes to expand a fledgling industrial park in Kaesong, North Korea, to as many as 40 South Korean factories from 11.
But, in the realm of inter-Korean politics, the second shoe never dropped. Kim Jong-il, North Korea's leader, has not reciprocated Kim's gesture by visiting the south.
"I was disappointed that Kim Jong Il could not make a reciprocal visit," Kim said in the interview, noting that the North Korean leader made a weeklong trip to China in January. "The leaders of China have strongly advised him to visit here. But there is opposition from the inside, from the military, to his visiting South Korea."
North Korea's military, he said, also slows the progress in linking two railways in North Korea and South Korea, a measure that was endorsed by the two leaders at their meeting in 2000. South Korea's construction engineers are renowned worldwide for fast and efficient work, and fresh rails and ties now cross the Demilitarized Zone on the border with North Korea, but planned test runs of trains have been delayed since last October.
But North Korean officials have sent encouraging signals about the former South Korean president's request to inaugurate the rebuilt rail line.
Lee Jong-seok, South Korea's unification minister, is backing Kim's request.
To the former president, South Korea is now in a race with China for influence over North Korea.
"In North Korea, Chinese capital and products are increasingly present," Kim said.
"There is the possibility that North Korea could become another satellite state of China. As South Korean capital goes into North Korea, we can keep this in check."
Heavy rain and strong winds yesterday disrupted flights, trains and ferries, forcing the closure of roads across large parts of New Zealand’s North Island, while snapping power links to tens of thousands. Domestic media reported a few flights had resumed operating by afternoon from the airport in Wellington, the capital, although cancelations were still widespread after airport authorities said most morning flights were disrupted. Air New Zealand said it hoped to resume services when conditions ease later yesterday, after it paused operations at Wellington, Napier and Palmerston North airports. Online images showed flooded semi-rural neighborhoods, inundated homes, trees fallen on vehicles and collapsed
POST-UPRISING: Bangladesh Nationalist Party lawmakers were yesterday expected to formally elect Tarique Rahman as their leader and new head of government Bangladesh’s prime minister-to-be Tarique Rahman and lawmakers were yesterday sworn into parliament, becoming the first elected representatives since a deadly 2024 uprising. Rahman is set to take over from an interim government that has steered the country of 170 million people for 18 months since the autocratic government of Sheikh Hasina was overthrown. The lawmakers, who promised loyalty to Bangladesh, were sworn in by Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin. Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) lawmakers are expected to formally elect Rahman as their leader, with President Mohammed Shahabuddin then to administer the oath of office to the prime minister and his ministers
FRAYED: Strains between the US-European ties have ruptured allies’ trust in Washington, but with time, that could be rebuilt, the Michigan governor said China is providing crucial support for Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and could end the war with a phone call, US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said. “China could call [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and end this war tomorrow and cut off his dual-purpose technologies that they’re selling,” Whitaker said during a Friday panel at the Munich Security Conference. “China could stop buying Russian oil and gas.” “You know, this war is being completely enabled by China,” the US envoy added. Beijing and Moscow have forged an even tighter partnership since the start of the war, and Russia relies on China for critical parts
In a softly lit Shanghai bar, graduate student Helen Zhao stretched out both wrists to have her pulse taken — the first step to ordering the house special, a bespoke “health” cocktail based on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). “TCM bars” have popped up in several cities across China, epitomizing what the country’s stressed-out, time-poor youth refer to as “punk wellness,” or “wrecking yourself while saving yourself.” At Shanghai’s Niang Qing, a TCM doctor in a white coat diagnoses customers’ physical conditions based on the pulse readings, before a mixologist crafts custom drinks incorporating the herbs and roots prescribed for their ailments.
RSS