Former President Kim Dae-jung yesterday called on the two Koreas to prepare for the first stage of reunification as the next step after resolving the crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear programs. Kim said the two Koreas should try to find common ground between their respective proposals for state reform on the road toward eventual reunification. His remarks came amid growing speculation that Seoul is preparing for a second inter-Korean summit and that Kim is being considered as the South's special envoy to Pyongyang to break the impasse in inter-Korean ties.During his recent visit to the North, Shin Ki-nam, lawmaker of Uri Party and the chairman of intelligence committee at the National Assembly, felt the North's "welcoming atmosphere" towards the next round of South-North Korean summit talks. Shin visited the North from Nov. 30 for three day and met the North's No.2 man Kim Young-nam and Rhee Jong-hyuk, vice chairman of North's Asia-Pacific Peace Committee.
"I felt that (the North) was willing to develop the South-North relations more and was trying to overcome many difficulties," Shin said. "I could see the North's efforts and willingness to break through various difficulties like the North's nuclear issue and six-party talks."
Local media has speculated that Kim may visit the North again in the coming spring to fulfill the North's offer, which was delivered by Kim Ki-nam, North's high-ranking official, when he came to Seoul in August for the joint festival to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule.
During the forum, Kim, the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, stressed that there must be a normalization of relations between the United States and North Korea before anything else can shape the future of inter-Korean relations. He pointed out that the biggest difficulty for the normalization of relations is the North's nuclear ambitions, and that it should be resolved through the six-nation talks. He said the South does not have the ability to take on the burden of the "broken-down economy" of the North.
"Whether it may take 10 years or 20, a stable process of unification must be pursued based on the principles of the Sunshine Policy of peaceful coexistence, peaceful exchange and peaceful unification," he said.