From: "Juche 86" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2001 14:53:00 +0100 To: "Juche Insurrection" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [Juche Insurrection] Korea Times: 24.08.2001 Korea Times : 24.08.2001 1) Kim Expresses Confidence in Embattled Unification Minister 2) Determined to Keep Sailing With `Sunshine' 3) NK Corn Crop Best in 4 Years' 4) Prof. Kang, Other Delegates Held for Pro-Communist Activities ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- 1) Kim Expresses Confidence in Embattled Unification Minister By Oh Young-jin Staff Reporter President Kim Dae-jung yesterday expressed his confidence in Unification Minister Lim Dong-won, the preacher of the troubled ``sunshine'' engagement policy toward North Korea, dismissing rising calls for his resignation over the alleged debacle in joint Liberation Day festivities in Pyongyang. Kim, however, expressed his regret for the uproar caused by the Pyongyang incident. In his meeting with foreign affairs- and security-related ministers at Chong Wa Dae, President Kim said, ``There will be no diversions from our policy of inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation. ``Neither the Cold War mentality nor the headlong rush for unification are of any help to the future of our people and inter-Korean relations,'' the President told the meeting. In attendance were Prime Minister Lee Han-dong, National Intelligence Service director Shin Kuhn and Foreign Affairs-Trade Minister Han Seung-soo as well as Lim. Presidential press secretary Park Joon-young said in a press briefing, ``At issue are improper acts by some delegates in the Pyongyang festivals, not Minister Lim. Replacing him has never even been considered.'' Arrest warrants were sought for seven members of the delegation. . The recent Pyongyang visit by South Koreans from a wide spectrum of society was originally authorized to showcase the maturity of inter-Korean relations and to blow fresh wind into the sagging sails of the sunshine policy, but apparently backfired, according to government watchers. The President's show of support for his chief lieutenant in charge of North Korea policy came after a nearly universal call in the political arena for Lim's dismissal, holding him responsible for the alleged expression of sympathy toward Pyongyang's unification formula by southern delegates in the recent Pyongyang festivals. Their acts have angered the largely conservative society of South Korea, which is not fully convinced that North Korea could be its partner for a lasting peace on the divided Korean peninsula. The opposition Grand National Party (GNP) and the splinter United Liberal Democrats (ULD), the coalition partner of Kim's ruling Millennium Democratic Party (MDP), are, in a rare show of bipartisanship, demanding Lim be dismissed for his last minute decision to allow the delegation to go to Pyongyang. Press secretary Park said that the ULD's alliance with the GNP in a collective call for Lim's dismissal was a ``difference in view'' that could be worked out through consultations. The ULD is headed by Kim Jong-pil, a former top lieutenant of Park Chung-hee, the iron-fisted ruler who was a strong opponent of communism. The Pyongyang incident is stoking an ideological divide between progressives and conservatives in South Korean society, who have lived for five decades in an alternating contest of love and hate with the estranged neighbors next door. Spokesman Park said, ``The delegation was composed of conservatives and healthy members of society as well as radicals who promote early unification. ``It is true that remarks and acts by some members were improper, but it would be hard to find fault with the approval of the visit itself,'' he said. Park's argument, however, fell upon the deaf ears of the big vernacular newspapers, which are in a war with the government. They depicted the incident as an example of how the sunshine policy is being unraveled. [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- 2) Determined to Keep Sailing With `Sunshine' By Oh Young-jin Staff Reporter President Kim Dae-jung is determined to keep sailing with the Sunshine Policy, even though his administration's flagship policy of reconciliation and cooperation toward North Korea is stuck in the doldrums, with no hint of wind any time soon. His pilot, Unification Minister Lim Dong-won, was losing confidence among disbelieving shipmates on board. The scuttlebutt had it that Lim's days were numbered. It all came down to a captain's call, and President Kim made it. He decided to keep Lim in his post, an unmistakable signal of his intention to stay on course with his inter-Korean reconciliation policy. Kim's decision came against all political odds. Some already raise the possibility that Kim may have to ditch Lim eventually based on the political reality that changes on a daily basis. But his determination appeared to be beyond doubt. In his meeting with Lim and other security-related ministers at Chong Wa Dae, the President declared that there would no diversions from the sunshine policy. ``We had a unified country for 1,300 years. Our trek on the path of inter- Korean reconciliation is a mission that history imposes on us and, therefore, cannot be given up,'' Kim told his ministers. By many indications, the sunshine policy defines the DJ presidency. Lim is regarded as the policy architect. After he took office in early 1998, Kim made a series of overtures persuading the recalcitrant Pyongyang to come out of its crumbling socialist cocoon. He faced hurdles not only with Pyongyang but also domestically. After all, the two Koreas fought a bitter war and millions were killed. The two Koreas are still technically at war, with millions of soldiers pointing guns at each other in the heavily fortified border winding across the waist of the Korean peninsula. Last year, it seemed that Kim had achieved what he had hoped for at the June 15 summit, when he flew to Pyongyang and met face to face with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for the achievement. All through this tumultuous journey toward inter-Korean d�tente, Lim had been on President Kim's side. He is Kim's soul mate. Before he became the President, Kim persuaded Lim, a former Army general who was born in North Korea, to join his camp. He became the secretary general for DJ's private institute in 1995. Upon Kim's election as president, Lim was appointed as senior secretary for foreign affairs and security, then moved to the National Intelligence Service (NIS) as its director and then to his current post of unification minister. The minister served as a presidential envoy during a secret mission to Pyongyang last year to work out plans for President Kim's visit. Lim has come to identify with the sunshine policy. On Kim's behalf, Lim has taken blows from conservatives. Attacks have become fiercer nowadays, after Pyongyang suspended all channels of inter-Korean dialogue and refused to fix a date for its leader's return visit to Seoul, as promised in the agreements made by the two Kims. Then, the Pyongyang debacle took place. A radical group of people in the delegation that was allowed to go to Pyongyang for the joint Liberation Day celebrations allegedly showed sympathy toward the communist unification formula. Lim has been under fire for his last-minute decision to allow the visit. The trip has rekindled an ideological conflict between progressives and conservatives that had been simmering under the surface. The ruling coalition partner United Liberal Democrats (ULD) broke from the ranks and joined the opposition Grand National Party (GNP), demanding that Lim be dismissed. Lim was pushed into the corner and President Kim came to his rescue. To President Kim, it was tantamount to a choice between ``sunshine'' and ``no sunshine.'' [EMAIL PROTECTED] �Է½ð� 2001/08/24 16:01 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- 3) NK Corn Crop Best in 4 Years' By Seo Soo-min Staff Reporter -Better Food Conditions Expected- North Korea is eyeing the most successful corn crop in four years, which is expected to alleviate the severe food shortage there, said a South Korean agricultural expert who visited there recently. Prof. Kim Soon-kwon of the International Corn Foundation, dubbed ``Dr. Corn,'' who has conducted a major corn seed program for North Korea since 1998, said after his Aug. 3-14 visit to the North that the corn crop, the biggest food source there, has increased significantly despite one of the most severe droughts this past spring. ``Unless other national disasters hit North Korea between now and autumn, North Korea will produce some 2.5 to 3 million tons of maize, and also see a relatively good rice harvest,'' Kim said. The World Food Program put the North's total grain output for last year at 292 tons, rice and corn included. On the contrary, United Nations bodies conducting aid programs in North Korea sent out warnings earlier to international society on the North's food situation this year, due mainly to extremely low precipitation in spring. The professor cited several reasons for the drastic change in the North's crop situation, such as rains that came in early July, as well as the fertilizer that South Korea and the international community has handed over to the North. ``When I visited North Korea from June 25 to July 4, it looked as if the lack of rain had steered North Korea toward another year of crop failure. However, after the rains resumed in early July, the corn grew so fast that there was no time for insects or other diseases to destroy them,'' Kim said in a meeting with journalists. In addition, whereas North Korea in the past has refrained from planting beans alongside corn, since beans produce only a third of the net weight per hectare than corn, it has begun to realize that growing the two crops have synergetic effects, such as increased productivity of the soil. Kim, who visited North Korea 20 times so far for the ``Super Corn'' project, also said that after five years of research, he was nearing the completion of the seed corn that produces 50 percent more than the conventional kind, does not need fertilizer, and can better survive cold weather. Corn seeds that yield 20 to 30 percent more than the existing North Korean ones, provided by Kim's project, accounted for some 10 percent of the total supply. ``We have yet to reach a final estimation of the North's food shortage for this year, since we have been hearing varying accounts of the crop situation there, but it seems the situation has become somewhat better,'' commented a Unification Ministry official on the matter yesterday. On Aug. 21, Catherine Bertini, executive director of WFP, reported upon returning from her fourth visit to North Korea that there was no significant improvement in terms of the country's ability to feed itself between 1997 and 2001. She is to arrive in Seoul today and give a press conference Monday. [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- 4) Prof. Kang, Other Delegates Held for Pro-Communist Activities By Lee Chi-dng Staff Reporter The Seoul District Court yesterday allowed prosecutors to arrest several pro-Pyongyang activists and one professor who allegedly engaged in pro- Northern activities during their recent trip to the communist country. The decision came a day after state prosecutors sought warrants for seven members of the South Korean delegation to Pyongyang on charges of violating the draconian National Security Law. They are Kang Jeong-koo, a professor at Dongkuk University, and six officials from Pomminnyon, the Pan-National Alliance for Reunification of the Fatherland, a tripartite unification organization of South, North, and overseas Koreans. Authorities have labeled Pomminnyon as a ``group benefiting the enemy,'' because it supports the North Korea's unification formula, which centers on a confederation system. It has also called for the withdrawal of the USFK since its inception in 1990. The six are suspected of holding an unauthorized meeting with their North Korean counterparts on August 16 to revise the organization's platform. Professor Kang allegedly wrote in a guest book, ``Let's accomplish the great task of national unification by cherishing the spirit of Mankyongdae,'' when he visited the birthplace of Kim Il-sung, the late dictator of the North, who started the 1950-53 Korean War. Immediately after the 337-strong delegation returned from Pyongyang on Tuesday, wrapping up their week-long trip intended for a joint celebration of the National Liberation Day, state security investigators and prosecutors started to interrogate 16 people on their controversial activities in the North. The prosecution booked nine other people without physical detention on the same charges. Breaking their pledges to stay away from political activities, a third of the delegation, representing social, labor and religious organizations, reportedly attended ceremonies at a monument dedicated to North Korea's formula for reunification. The government approved the trip after first rejecting it, in an apparent bid not to further undermine the reconciliation between the two Koreas. Some delegation members' activities have brought to the surface longstanding ideological schisms among locals, drawing mixed responses. Leftists praised their acts as unification-oriented initiatives, while conservatives labeled them as dangerous and improper activities. The opposition Grand National Party (GNP) lashed out at the government, arguing the case is an adverse side effect of the ``Sunshine Policy,'' the Kim Dae-jung administration's engagement of North Korea. 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