KIM JONG IL’S heir apparent has met with the former first lady of South Korea in a rare interaction between two countries still technically at war.
A small delegation from South Korea travelled to neighbouring North Korea to pay their respects following the recent death of leader Kim Jong Il.
Among the group is Lee Hee-ho, widow of the late South Korean president and Nobel laureate Kim Dae-jung, and chairwoman of the Hyundai industrial group Hyun Jung-eun.
Al Jazeera reports that Kim Dae-jung co-hosted the first inter-Korea summit in 2000 with the late Jong Il, while Hyundai is involved in a number of cross-border projects.
Seoul’s Unification Ministry said in a statement that the South Korean group met with Kim Jong Un at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace, where his father’s body is lying in state. North Korea declared 11 days of national mourning in response to Kim Jong Il’s death over a week ago.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported yesterday that North Korea had indicated that its future relations with South Korea would be influenced by the manner in which Seoul participated in its mourning.
The South Korean government is not sending an official delegation to Wednesday’s funeral of Kim Jong Il.
Earlier today, North Korea named Kim Jong Un as the new chief of a top ruling party body. The new post will give Kim Jong Il’s third son authority over political matters and further increases the likelihood of him being officially made his father’s successor.
- Additional reporting by the AP
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