Kim Dae-jung tinkers in DPRK policy again

I have to admit that in 1998 I thought the Sunshine Policy sounded good ““ a new approach to an old problem that might yield unexpected results. The three main tenants of the policy were:

– No armed provocation by the North will be tolerated
– The South will not attempt to absorb the North in any way
– The South actively seeks cooperation

So in June of 2000 when Kim Dae-jung pulled of a summit with Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang, it sure seemed that this policy might work. Kim Dae-jung even won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula.

Except the summit was a sham. The results a fraud.

In reality, the Kim Dae-jung administration secretly arranged for North Korea to receive approximately US$1.7 billion:

A former intelligence officer has revealed that the South Korean leader funneled some 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion) to his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jong Il, in return for holding the summit, and lobbied foreign countries to get the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize.

With the cash, North Korea purchased key components for nuclear weapons, 40 Soviet-made MiG jets and a submarine from Kazakhstan . . . government auditors confirmed that the country’s giant business conglomerate Hyundai secretly transferred some $200 million, obtained from a South Korean state-run bank, to North Korea just ahead of the summit in June 2000. (emphasis added)

The Sunshine Policy also quickly transformed into a massive appeasement program where spineless South Koran officials became, and still are, DPRK apologists.

Kim Dae-jung now hopes to visit North Korea again in April to help ease tensions. And what does he say to help convince North Korea to let him visit? Makes statements concerning issues that he almost assuredly has no current knowledge of:

“I don’t think the United States has secured any direct evidence of the North’s (alleged) counterfeiting,” Kim said . . . “The problem should not be solved in ways that would hinder the six-party talks,” Kim said, referring to the nuclear talks that involve the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States. (emphasis added)

Kim is no longer a part of the Korean government, and there was no mention of him being briefed by anyone from the U.S. team that recently visited to present evidence to Korean counterparts ““ so he is either basing his opinion off indirect knowledge, or just making it up as he goes.

I wonder how much this trip will cost him, and what military hardware the North Koreans will buy with it.
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