Special Envoy Im Meets Kim Jeong-Il Today

Special aid for president on diplomacy, security, reunification, Im Dong-Won, visiting North Korea as the special envoy of president Kim Dae-Jung, held a meeting in afternoon of April 3 with the south affairs secretary of the Korea Worker’s Party (KWP) Kim Yong-Sun at Paekhwawon guest house, where Im is staying, and discussed pending issues between the North and South including reunion of separated families, reconnection of railroad lines between Seoul and Uiju, and others. It is known that special envoy Im emphasized the necessity of relaxation of tensions in Korean peninsular, and relayed the international community’s concern on weapons of mass destruction (WMD) such as nuclear and missiles of North Korea, and urged resumption of dialogue between North Korea and the U.S. Special envoy Im will meet chairman of defense committee Kim Jeong-Il and relay the personal letter of president Kim.

The special envoy delegation composed of seven members, including presidential special aid Im, director of the 3rd sectors in the National Information Service (NIS) Kim Bo-Hyeon, and director of the exchange cooperation bureau of the Ministry of Unification (MOU) Cho Myong-Gyun, departed Seoul Airport on the presidential plane at 10 A.M. on April 3 and arrived at Sunan Airport Pyoungyang at 11:45 A.M. after flying over Western Direct Flight Route. Special envoy Im talked with reporters shortly before departing to North Korea, and said, `There are issues that the U.S. and Japan would like to relay to North Korea through me.`

Dong-Ki Sung esprit@donga.com