A South Korean lawmaker visited North Korea on Tuesday to deliver a wreath of flowers commemorating the third anniversary of the death of the communist country's late leader Kim Jong-il, the father of current leader Kim Jong-un.
   
Rep. Park Jie-won of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy plans to deliver the wreath on behalf of Lee Hee-ho, the widow of the late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, in North Korea's border city of Kaesong. The city is home to a big inter-Korean factory park.
   
Park's visit reciprocates a similar gesture by North Korea in August to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the death of the late South Korean president.
   
"There was prior coordination with the government about the steps involved in our visit to the North," the lawmaker said at the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine office in Paju, about 50 kilometers northwest of Seoul. "We are paying our respects from a humanitarian perspective, and I don't think (the meaning of the visit) should be exaggerated."
  

Park served as Kim's chief of staff during his term from 1998 till 2003. Kim Dae-jung held the first-ever inter-Korean summit with the then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2000, for which he received the Nobel Peace Prize the same year.
   
The lawmaker, leading a seven-member delegation from the Kim Dae Jung Peace Center in Seoul, is scheduled to make a one-day visit to the North, a day before the third anniversary of the late North Korean leader's death. 
   
The delegation is expected to be met by Won Dong-yon, the deputy head of North Korea's United Front Department and vice chairman of the Asia-Pacific Committee.
  

Before heading to the North, Park and his delegation met with Lee at her home in Seoul.
   
The former first lady asked the delegation to "convey well" her condolences, saying she hopes the wreath will help improve inter-Korean ties, according to Park.
   
"I am visiting the North with the hope of laying even just a small bridge to thaw frozen inter-Korean relations," Park told Yonhap News Agency by phone before his departure.
   
He also said he plans to remind North Korea of the current South Korean government's policy to expand cross-border exchanges through trust-building measures, and urge the North to come forward for talks.
  

The South Korean government approved Park's trip Monday, citing the reciprocal nature of the wreath delivery.
  
The lawmaker's visit provides a rare chance for a meeting with North Korean officials amid a suspension in government-level dialogue between the sides.
   
The South Korean government, however, stressed that the lawmaker is visiting North Korea in a "purely humanitarian" move. (Yonhap)