North Korea uses Kim Jong-il funeral to send olive branch and warning to South
| Seoul, South Korea
North Korea is turning the funeral in Pyongyang next Wednesday for Kim Jong-il into an opportunity for rhetoric against South Korea for refusing to send an official condolence delegation and then for banning most other South Koreans from going there as well.
North Korea鈥檚 official website Uriminzokkiri on Friday attacked South Korea for 鈥渦nacceptable and inhumane action鈥� for banning all but two condolence groups and warned darkly of the ban鈥檚 鈥渟ignificant impact鈥� of the ban.
The message on the website appeared as an attempt at intimidation, and a bid to suggest a new crisis on the Korean peninsula after Kim Jong-un, third son of Kim Jong-il, has assumed power.
"We will keep in mind those who do not understand even the most basic actions of respect and humanity,鈥� said the message, warning that those 鈥渨ho insult our dignity鈥� face 鈥渁 very expensive price.鈥�
The rhetoric suggested that the regime that falls into place after the funeral is not likely to shift dramatically from the hard-line stance of Kim Jong-il, who ruled with an iron fist during 17 years in power before his death 鈥� even while earning a reputation as a playboy and charming foreign visitors.
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鈥淣ot in the short run,鈥� says David Kang, professor of Korean studies at the University of Southern California, when asked about chances for a thaw in North Korea鈥檚 tough stance vis-脿-vis South Korea, the US, and Japan. 鈥淚f he鈥檚 following in his father鈥檚 footsteps, it will take a couple of years鈥� before there鈥檚 any change in outlook.
North Korea promised聽a warm welcome to 鈥渃ondolence delegations鈥� from South Korea, offering assurances that 鈥渢he convenience and safety of South Korean condolence delegations will be fully guaranteed.鈥�
Two prominent widows will lead delegations
South Korea聽has agreed to permit two widows whose husbands had unique, tragically interwoven records in pursuing rapprochement between South and North to lead their own 鈥渃ondolence delegations.鈥�
First is Lee Hee-ho, widow of Kim Dae-jung, the president who articulated a 鈥淪unshine policy鈥� of reconciliation, flew to Pyongyang for the first inter-Korean summit with Kim Jong-il in June 2000, and won the Nobel Peace Prize six months later.
Second is Hyun Jeong-eun, widow of Chung Mong-hun, who was chairman of Hyundai Asan, the Hyundai group company responsible for realizing the dream of his father, Chung Ju-yung, to open up North Korea for business and tourism. Her husband committed suicide in August 2003 two months after his indictment for his role in channeling at least $500 million in bribes from South to North Korea to persuade Kim Jong-il to agree to the summit.
Aside from the issue over condolences from South Korea,聽questions swirl about the roles of Kim Jong-il鈥檚 other offspring. His oldest son, Kim Jong-nam, who is 40, has been living it up in Macao for years. Once a likely successor, Kim Jong-nam lost out after he was nabbed by Japanese immigration officials in 2001 trying to get through Tokyo's Narita airport on a fake Dominican passport in order to take his son to Disneyland..
Nor is it聽clear if the middle of the three brothers, Kim Jong-chol, will be visible at the funeral. Jong-chol, now 30, has been living quietly in Pyongyang, not viewed as real competition since his father passed him over as effete, but will probably remain unseen on television even if he鈥檚 somewhere close by.
Kim Jong-un nominally heads the funeral committee, but it鈥檚 unlikely he had much to do with the selection of its 230 or so members. All one knows is that Jang Song-thaek, a vice chairman of the national defense commission that Kim Jong-il served as chairman, seems to be the regent.
