GNP chief opposes Clinton visit to NK

Grand National Party (GNP) chairman Lee Hoi-Chang said that U.S. President Bill Clinton, who has only a month left in his term, should not rush contacts between North Korea and the U.S. and should yield to the next administration on the North Korea issue.

At a special lecture for 350 former Korean War platoon leaders at the Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul, Lee said the Korean government is pushing the U.S. to establish relations with North Korea, as this would be the solution to 50-year standoff on the Korean peninsula.

He said that if relations between North Korea and the U.S. are normalized without eliminating the military threat, the security of the Korean peninsula may be damaged.

He cited 10 prerequisites for peaceful unification, saying peaceful coexistence should come first; national security should be maintained based on the South Korea-U.S. alliance and U.S. forces stationed in Korea; strategic coexistence should be achieved based on mutual cooperation; and South-North talks should be held together with national security discussions among Far East Asian nations.