China to send former state councilor to Kim DJ's funeral: source

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Aug. 21 (Yonhap) -- China plans to send former state councilor and foreign
minister Tang Jiaxuan as the president's special envoy to the funeral of late
South Korean leader Kim Dae-jung, a diplomatic source here said Friday.

Kim's funeral, fully sponsored by the government, will be held at the National
Assembly in western Seoul on Sunday. He is only the second person to be given a
state funeral after former President Park Chung-hee.
"China has decided to send a delegation led by Tang to the funeral," the source
said, asking not to be named before the Chinese government formally informs South
Korea of the decision.
Tang served as a state councilor, a prime minister-level post, from 2003-2008.
He visited Pyongyang as Chinese President Hu Jintao's special envoy for a meeting
with the North's leader Kim Jong-il shortly after its first nuclear test in
October 2006, persuading Pyongyang to come back to the six-way nuclear talks.
"Tang had meetings with former President Kim Dae-jung on many occasions while
serving as foreign minister from 1998-2003 (when Kim was South Korea's
president)," the source said.
Japan announced earlier that it will send former House of Representatives Speaker
Yohei Kono as its envoy to Kim's funeral.
The U.S. has also notified Seoul of its plan to dispatch a delegation but has not
given the list of delegates yet, according to Seoul officials.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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