“Advise President to Send Special Envoy to North Korea”

Uri Party Floor Leader Chung Se-gyun said on April 7, “[We] will advise President Roh Moo Hyun to send a special envoy to North Korea to open up our relations.”

He said in his keynote speech at the National Assembly Negotiating Group meeting that “we must urge North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il to return to the six-party talks and to solve the problems in the Korean peninsula through dialogue between North and South Korean leaders, if needed.”

Chung added, “Seeing Japan’s recent actions involving the distortion of history textbooks, the Dokdo ordinance, and the remarks made by high government officials, it is obvious that there was absolutely no truth to the apologies that the Japanese had given us in the past.” He also said that they will take a hard stance in this matter, through joint action with counterparts from other countries, and by sending party representatives to the UN.

He remarked, “I cannot help but wonder if Japan deserves to be a member of the international society.” He also emphasized, “We would like to make it perfectly clear that we oppose Japan’s becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council.”

Seung-Mo Yun ysmo@donga.com