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

(ATTN: COMBINES with story moved under slug "Kim DJ-democracy"; UPDATES with
additional remarks by Kim, more details)
By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, Jan. 15 (Yonhap) -- Former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung on Thursday
echoed calls by North Korea on the Seoul government to honor and abide by
previous bilateral agreements.

"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.
After winning a landslide victory on a conservative base, President Lee adopted a
tougher policy on Pyongyang, demanding more reciprocity for Seoul's food aid. He
said he would selectively implement previous summit agreements, depending on each
project's practicality and economic feasibility.
"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.
When later asked whether he would be willing to again visit the communist North
as a special envoy for the Lee administration, he said an envoy should be chosen
from those closest to the president and should be someone who also shares the
president's political views.
Kim expressed his dismay with the present government, saying the country's
democracy is now regressing.
"Over the past 50 years, people have died, been tortured and lost their jobs to
build our democracy. But judging from recent incidents, it seems that our
democracy is moving backward," Kim told the meeting.
He did not elaborate on what those incidents were. But when asked what he thought
about the recent arrest of a blogger going by the handle "Minerva" who has been
accused of spreading false rumors that hurt the nation's economy, Kim said the
government may have gone too far.
"I really don't know who this person called 'Minerva' is or what he said. But
based on my common belief, I think what this person is accused of doing is what
the media and scholars do every day," said Kim, who had spent most of his
political career as an opposition leader and in exile until he was elected
president in late 1996.
Turning to the North Korean nuclear issue, Kim said Washington's incoming
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
(END)