Follow us on
South Koreans protest former first lady’s visit to North
Lee Hee-Ho led delegation to North Korea to mark their respects following the death of Kim Jong-il
The widow of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, the author of a now-jettisoned engagement policy with North Korea, crossed the fortified land border between the two sides on Monday to pay her respects to deceased dictator Kim Jong-il (Getty Images)
Ties between the North and South have been frozen since the election of conservative South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in 2008, who cut aid in a bid to force the North to abandon a nuclear programme and bring it to the negotiating table (Getty Images)
A thirteen-member delegation, led by Lee Hee-ho, the widow of former president Kim Dae-jung who masterminded the so-called ‘Sunshine Policy’ of engagement with the North, crossed the border by car and will pay their respects at the bier of Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang(Getty Images)
Former First Lady Lee Hee-Ho and Hyundai group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-Eun lead a delegation of South Koreans to North Korea to mark their condolence following the death of Kim Jong-il (Getty Images)
Lee, who met Kim Jong-il in Pyongynag in 2000 in the first inter-Korean summit since the end of the Korean War in 1953, will stay for two days and will not attend the Dec 28 funeral (Getty Images)
Most South Koreans are banned from going to the North under the current government’s policy and South Korea, which remains technically at war with the North, is not sending an official delegation to mourn Kim, who died earlier this month (Getty Images)
Asked by reporters at the crossing point whether the delegation plans to meet North Korea’s new leader, Kim Jong-un, Yoon said the visit was for ‘pure condolence’ (Getty Images)
Kim Jong-un, who is in his late 20s, is the third of his line to rule the impoverished North, although he is likely to share power with a coterie (Getty Images)
A second group of mourners from South Korea led by the widow of one of South Korea’s biggest conglomerates that has investments in the North was also headed to Pyongyang (Getty Images)
