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TOKYO -- Former President Kim Dae-jung said Saturday that North Korea should not be attacked unilaterally for its human rights abuses and dictatorial regime but should be helped to join the international community on its own. He was apparently alluding to U.S. Secretary of State-designate Condoleezza Rice's "outposts of tyranny" speech.
Appearing on Japan’s NHK satellite TV channel, Kim said North Korea was now dreaming of becoming a "second China" and working hard to normalize relations with Japan.
Kim also recalled that he left for a landmark June 2000 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang with a heavy heart because North Korea had told him he should only come if he was prepared to pay his respects at the tomb of the late leader Kim Il-sung. The issue was still unresolved when Kim left for Pyongyang. He added that the two Kims shared a laugh when the North Korean leader said the South Korean president was stubborn because he was from the Jeolla provinces. Kim Dae-jung replied that it was strange that Kim Jong-il should say that as his family also traces its roots to the Jeolla provinces.
(Choe Heup, pot@chosun.com )
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