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DPRK condolence delegation arrives in Seoul

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-21 15:26

SEOUL: A high-level delegation from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) arrived in Seoul Friday, to pay respects to late former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung in a rare visit that raised hopes of improved relations between the two neighbors.

The DPRK leader Kim Jong-il's close aide Kim Ki-nam (L), secretary of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party, leading the DPEK delegation to the funeral, and Kim Yang-gon, a senior party official with ties to the South, move to offer flowers to the deceased former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung at a memorial altar at the National Assembly in Seoul August 21, 2009. [Agencies]

The trip may provide a valuable opportunity for dialogue between the two Koreas, whose relations have deteriorated since the inauguration last year of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, a conservative who has linked aid to Pyongyang to its commitments on nuclear disarmament.

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The six-member delegation of top DPRK officials is to visit the National Assembly where Kim's body is lying in state until his state funeral Sunday.

It was not clear whether they would meet South Korean officials before returning home Saturday. Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung told reporters that no other itinerary for the delegation had been set.

President Lee visited the National Assembly earlier Friday to pay respects to Kim, who died Tuesday at age 85. His death unleashed an outpouring of grief for a man who won the Nobel Peace Prize for a historic summit with the DPRK.

The June 2000 summit between Kim and Kim Jong-il helped thaw relations and spawned a flurry of reconciliation projects on the divided peninsula. Kim Jong-il sent a condolence message Wednesday to Kim's family.

Late former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung (L) speaks with the DPRK leader Kim Jong-il during a farewell luncheon in Pyongyang in this June 15, 2000 file photo.[Agencies]

The delegation's visit is part of a series of recent conciliatory gestures by Pyongyang to ease tensions that have been running high for months over its nuclear and missile tests.

DPRK said Thursday that it would lift restrictions on cross-border traffic, resume cargo train service and increase the number of South Koreans permitted to stay in a joint industrial zone in the country to previous levels beginning Friday.

The Unification Ministry welcomed Thursday's announcement.

The DPRK has only dispatched a condolence delegation once before, a one-day trip in 2001 during mourning for Chung Ju-yung, the founder of South Korea's Hyundai Group, which funded the first inter-Korean joint projects.

The delegation is led by senior Workers' Party official Kim Ki Nam, said the Unification Ministry.