Vice unification minister, ex-minister to receive N.K. delegation

By Tony Chang
SEOUL, Aug. 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's vice unification minister and former
unification minister will greet a North Korean delegation due in Seoul on Friday
to pay respects to late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, the government said
Friday.
Hong Yang-ho, vice minister, and former minister Jeong Se-hyun will receive the
six-member delegation that was to arrive around 3 p.m. at Gimpo Airport in
western Seoul, the Unification Ministry said.
The North Koreans, led by Kim Ki-nam, a secretary of North Korea's Workers' Party
Central Committee, will head straight to the National Assembly to pay tribute at
the memorial alter for Kim Dae-jung who died Tuesday after developing
complications from pneumonia.
The delegation will head back to the North on Saturday afternoon. Kim's funeral
will be held on Sunday.
The late president held the historic first inter-Korean summit with North Korean
leader Kim Jong-il in 2000, opening an unprecedented era of cross-border
reconciliation and cooperation. His sunshine policy is credited by supporters
with facilitating broad inter-Korean social exchanges and aid to develop the
North's dilapidated economy, moves that were rolled back by the Lee Myung-bak
government that took office in February last year.
The visit is the first by North Korean officials during the 18 months of Lee
administration.
Seoul approved the trip "in honor of the bereaved family's opinion and in
consideration of inter-Korean relations," Unification Ministry spokesman Chun
Hae-sung said Thursday.
The North's delegation also includes Kim Yang-gon, head of the party's
unification front department and a long-time key figure in inter-Korean
relations. North Korean media called them "special envoys" authorized by Kim
Jong-il.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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