By Song Sang-ho
South Korea on Tuesday decided not to send its government mourning delegation to the funeral of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-il slated for Dec. 28, while conveying “consolation” to the people in the communist state, Seoul’s unification minister said.
But it will allow the bereaved families of former President Kim Dae-jung and Chung Mong-hun, former chairman of Hyundai Asan, to attend it, in return for the visits by the North to their funerals here in August 2009 and in August 2003, respectively. Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il held the first-ever North-South summit in 2000, and the Hyundai Group pioneered business exchanges between the two Koreas.
“The government decided not to send its delegation to the funeral, except for the two surviving family members who are former First Lady Lee Hee-ho and Chung’s widow Hyun Jeong-eun,” Minister Yu Woo-ik said in a press briefing at Cheong Wa Dae.
Yu read the statement after President Lee Myung-bak and other security- and diplomacy-related ministers convened a special meeting on how to deal with the demise of the enigmatic leader, which the North claims came on Saturday.
The issue concerning whether to send the delegation and express condolences to the North, which has in any case said it would not host foreign delegations, had emerged as a hot-button issue with people sharply divided along ideological lines.
The statement also said that given the North’s mourning period until Dec. 29 ― a day after the funeral in Pyongyang, Seoul will recommend the suspension of plans to light up Christmas tree-shaped towers near the border areas.
The North has long berated the South for the Christmas tower plans as part of its psychological warfare as the lavish celebrations can help awaken people in the reclusive state.
“With our expectation that the North can quickly regain stability and cooperate with the South for peace and prosperity, we have decided to recommend the suspension of the Christmas plans, which were slated for Dec. 23,” Yu said.
The statement offered “consolation” to North Korean people, but fell short of expressing condolences.
Stressing that there are no unusual signs of North Korean activities, Yu called on citizens to carry out their activities as normal.
In a surprise announcement on Monday, the North’s state media said that Kim died of a heart attack on a train ride on Saturday morning. Kim, tapped as heir in 1974, took power when his father and national founder Kim In-sung died in 1994.
The Seoul government, which has taken a conservative policy toward the North under the current administration, was agonizing over how to best handle the issue while minimizing political ramifications ahead of major elections next year.
Observers were concerned that a failure to cope with the issue could spawn another ideological dispute here, which was seen in 1994 when Kim’s father and national founder Kim Il-sung died of cardiac arrest.
Liberal political forces including the main opposition Democratic Unified Party say that Seoul should send a delegation, stressing that this could be a rare chance to improve bilateral ties.
Several leading civic groups including the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice called for the government to offer to send its mourning delegation.
“The Seoul government should ensure that unnecessary tensions and conflicts will not arise on the peninsula. In light of our efforts to seek a new chance to entrench peace on the peninsula, we call on the authorities to make a bold decision to send its mourning team,” CCEJ said in a statement.
But conservatives argue that the delegation would divide public opinion at a time when citizens should stand united to cope with Kim’s death, and that pro-North Korea forces in the South would take advantage of the event to fan confusion here.
“Historically, Kim Jong-il is guilty of national treason and terrorism. If we express our sympathy toward his death, it is like we cannot distinguish what is right or wrong and who is friendly or hostile. When Hitler died, did the Jews go to his funeral?” said Cho Gab-je, former chief editor of the Monthly Chosun.
Hong Hyun-ik, North Korea expert at Sejong Institute, however, said that it would be good for Seoul to express condolences to the North, but bad for it to send a government delegation.
“By expressing our sympathy, we can have more leeway in our management of the North Korean situations. I think in some sense, Seoul needs to be more active regarding this issue so that it can take an initiative about the peninsular situations and help them move forward to the future,” he said.
“But it’d better not to send the delegation as it could amplify the ‘South-South” conflict among its people. What is better is that it can allow a team comprising symbolic figures such as the widow of the former president who received delegations from the North to go to the North.”
The ruling Grand National Party is circumspect regarding the issue as an ideological conflict is simmering among the people.
(sshluck@heraldcorp.com)