Former President Kim echoes N. Korea's stance on Lee gov't

By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, Jan. 15 (Yonhap) -- Former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung echoed
calls by North Korea on the Seoul government to acknowledge previous bilateral
agreements on Thursday.
"It is the obligation of an incumbent president to carry out and respect official
international agreements signed by his or her predecessors," Kim said in a
meeting with foreign news correspondents in Seoul.
Kim urged current South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to honor an agreement
reached at the first-ever inter-Korean summit between himself and North Korean
leader Kim Jong-il in 2000.
He also demanded Lee acknowledge another deal signed in 2007 between the North
Korean leader and Lee's predecessor, Roh Moo-hyun.
"Unless these two important declarations are respected, it will not be easy to
resuscitate inter-Korean dialogue," former president Kim said, though he noted
Lee has never "officially denied the validity of the two declarations."
The remarks come after a long line of statements and news articles from Pyongyang
that have denounced Seoul's incumbent president for what it has called
"betrayal."
Rodong Sinmun, a newspaper published by the North's Workers' Party, ran a
commentary on Thursday saying that honoring the 2000 and 2007 agreements is the
"duty" of those working for the reunification of the two Koreas.
"Denying the legitimacy of the joint declarations and running from them is
nothing but a scheme by traitors and anti-national forces to solidify
confrontation and the division of the nation," the newspaper said.
The former president, however, also called on the communist North to halt its
criticism of the South Korean head of state.
"They have to understand that the South Korean people do not condone such
reckless criticism ... Their behavior is counterproductive and has gone too far,"
he said.
Turning to the North Korean nuclear issue, Kim said Washington's incoming Obama
administration should pursue a "package deal" with Pyongyang under which both
sides will give and take.
"The United States should assure North Korea of its security and its integration
into the world economy ... In return, the United States should secure North
Korea's agreement on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," said Kim.
The 84-year-old former leader also urged U.S. President-elect Barack Obama to
engage in direct talks with Pyongyang after he takes office, claiming it is an
"indisputable fact" that the North Korean leader wants more than anything to
improve his country's relationship with Washington.
"If the U.S. conducts give-and-take negotiations and builds mutual trust, the
North Korean nuclear issue and related matters would be brought to a successful
end," Kim said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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