ID :
62213
Mon, 05/25/2009 - 09:49
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/62213
The shortlink copeid
(LEAD) North Korean leader sends condolence message on ex-President Roh's death
(ATTN: UPDATES with details)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, May 25 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il sent a message of
condolences to the family of former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, the
state media said on Monday, in a move that came amid a stalemate in political
cross-border relations.
"On hearing the news that former President Roh Moo Hyun died in an accident, I
express profound condolences to widow Kwon Yang-sook and his bereaved family,"
Kim was quoted as saying by the Korean Central News Agency.
The report did not say how the message was delivered to Roh's family of whether
he would send a delegation to Roh's funeral this week.
Roh leaped to his death from a cliff behind his home in the country's southwest
on Saturday morning, He and his family were under prosecution investigation on
allegations that they received bribes from a local businessman, charges the
former president denied.
North Korea briefly reported the news on Sunday. On the cause of his death, the
state media only said that South Korean and foreign media reports were suspecting
"the mental burden caused by the intensive investigation of the prosecution."
The condolence message came amid deadlocked political relations. Pyongyang has
cut off dialogue with Seoul's conservative government of Roh's successor, Lee
Myung-bak, who toughened up on the North's nuclear program and human rights
condition.
Roh pushed for reconciliation with the North with unconditional economic aid and
held a second inter-Korean summit with Kim in Pyongyang in 2007. Rice and
fertilizer aid was steadily given to the North even after its nuclear test in
2006.
The two Koreas exchanged messages and delegations to pay tribute to late
dignitaries amid thawed relations during a decade of liberal rule in South Korea
ending with Roh.
The tradition started in 1994 when then North Korean President Kim Il-sung sent a
message of condolence to the family of pastor Moon Ik-hwan, a unification
activist jailed for visiting Pyongyang during the Cold War era in 1989.
For the 2001 death of Chung Ju-young, the founder of Hyundai Group who initiated
South Korean investment in the North, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il sent a
delegation to pay tribute to him.
Kim also sent its envoys in Geneva to the funeral service for Lee Jong-wook,
director-general of the World Health Organization, in 2006.
South Korea did not officially pay its condolences over the death of Kim Il-sung
in the summer of 1994, prompting an outrage in Pyongyang, but it has since
delivered official tributes to late North Korean dignitaries.
The so-called "sunshine policy" initiated by the previous Kim Dae-jung
administration and maintained by Roh was withdrawn when Lee took office last
year. Lee ended government aid to the impoverished country, and Pyongyang
suspended government-level dialogue in retaliation.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, May 25 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il sent a message of
condolences to the family of former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, the
state media said on Monday, in a move that came amid a stalemate in political
cross-border relations.
"On hearing the news that former President Roh Moo Hyun died in an accident, I
express profound condolences to widow Kwon Yang-sook and his bereaved family,"
Kim was quoted as saying by the Korean Central News Agency.
The report did not say how the message was delivered to Roh's family of whether
he would send a delegation to Roh's funeral this week.
Roh leaped to his death from a cliff behind his home in the country's southwest
on Saturday morning, He and his family were under prosecution investigation on
allegations that they received bribes from a local businessman, charges the
former president denied.
North Korea briefly reported the news on Sunday. On the cause of his death, the
state media only said that South Korean and foreign media reports were suspecting
"the mental burden caused by the intensive investigation of the prosecution."
The condolence message came amid deadlocked political relations. Pyongyang has
cut off dialogue with Seoul's conservative government of Roh's successor, Lee
Myung-bak, who toughened up on the North's nuclear program and human rights
condition.
Roh pushed for reconciliation with the North with unconditional economic aid and
held a second inter-Korean summit with Kim in Pyongyang in 2007. Rice and
fertilizer aid was steadily given to the North even after its nuclear test in
2006.
The two Koreas exchanged messages and delegations to pay tribute to late
dignitaries amid thawed relations during a decade of liberal rule in South Korea
ending with Roh.
The tradition started in 1994 when then North Korean President Kim Il-sung sent a
message of condolence to the family of pastor Moon Ik-hwan, a unification
activist jailed for visiting Pyongyang during the Cold War era in 1989.
For the 2001 death of Chung Ju-young, the founder of Hyundai Group who initiated
South Korean investment in the North, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il sent a
delegation to pay tribute to him.
Kim also sent its envoys in Geneva to the funeral service for Lee Jong-wook,
director-general of the World Health Organization, in 2006.
South Korea did not officially pay its condolences over the death of Kim Il-sung
in the summer of 1994, prompting an outrage in Pyongyang, but it has since
delivered official tributes to late North Korean dignitaries.
The so-called "sunshine policy" initiated by the previous Kim Dae-jung
administration and maintained by Roh was withdrawn when Lee took office last
year. Lee ended government aid to the impoverished country, and Pyongyang
suspended government-level dialogue in retaliation.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
