Late Kim's family thanks N. Korean leader for delegation

SEOUL, Aug. 21 (Yonhap) -- The family of late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung
thanked North Korean leader Kim Jong-il Friday for sending a high-level
delegation to Seoul to join the mourning of his death.
The six-member team, led by Kim Ki-nam, a Workers' Party secretary and close aide
to the North Korean leader, flew from Pyongyang to pay homage to the late
president, who died Tuesday at age 85.

"I thank Chairman Kim Jong-il for sending you this long way," Lee Hee-ho, the
late president's wife, told the delegation at the non-profit Kim Dae Jung Peace
Center in western Seoul.
The late president held the historic first inter-Korean summit with Kim Jong-il
in 2000, paving the way for reconciliation and broad exchanges across the border.
The summit and his lifelong work in the democracy movement earned him the Nobel
Peace Prize later that year.
The party secretary, 83, read a condolence letter from the North Korean leader to
Lee. He also said Kim Jong-il had wanted his delegation to be the first to honor
the late president. The delegation earlier visited a memorial altar set up at the
National Assembly square, bearing a wreath sent by their leader.
"Delegations will arrive from many countries, but (the North Korean delegation)
should go there first and directly express condolences," Kim Jong-il was quoted
by the secretary as telling the delegation.
"President Kim did a lot for the Korean people," he was quoted as saying.
The meeting between Lee and the North Korean delegation was not open to the
media, but the content of the conversation was released by Choi Gyung-hwan, an
aide to the late president. What Kim Jong-il said in the letter was not made
public.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)