North Korea's Funeral Diplomacy - glimer of hope or an oncoming train?

The State Funeral for the late Former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung was yesterday. Regardless of the different personal views the readers of this blog may have about the late President, we believe that everyone can agree that he was a true statesman and an internationally recognized leader.

Quite certain that a lot of people saw the memorial and funeral services via the television broadcast or the Internet. If not, most would have at least seen the photos of these events.

One of the most memorable photo out of the memorial and funeral services is the photo that I've inserted to the left of this posting - a photo of Kim Ki-nam (Vice-chairman of theCommittee for Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherlandand aSecretary of the North Korean Workers Party) and Kim Yang-gon (Director of the Unification Front Department and Chairman of Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee) paying respect at Kim Dae-jung's alter, placing a wreath Kim Jong-il sent, which they brought from North Korea. The picture clearly shows Kim Jong-il's name (in Korean on the right) and the message of condolence (in Korean on the left).

Needless to say that this is the first time the North had sent a delegation to pay respect to a late South Korean President. But wait, that is not all. The delegation even had a meeting with the sitting South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, and the South Korean Unification Minister Hyun In Taek on 23 and 22 August respectively. Reportedly, the North Korean delegation delivered a verbal message from Kim Jong-il to President Lee.

According to Chosun Ilbo, the meeting "led to a consensus between the South and the North on the principle that both sides need high-level government-level dialogue. But it remains to be seen when and at what level such dialogue will be held." According to the same report, President Lee reportedly told the North Korean delegates that the South is willing to talk at any time at any level, including a summit - which has been rebuffed by Cheong Wa Dae (the South Korean Presidential Office). In response, Cheong Wa Dae released a statement saying:

President Lee Myung-bak is fully prepared and ready to hold an inter-Korean summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il if conditions are met, but no such summit has been proposed by either side.

Whether or not substantive discussions occurred during the North-South meetings on the 22 and 23 August, it was significant that those meetings were the first high level inter-Korean governmental meeting that occurred since President Lee took office 18 months or so ago.

No one truly believes the inter-Korean relations will improve over night, and no one really believes this funeral diplomacy by the North is purely out of the goodness of Kim Jong-il's heart and humaness; however, one can't help but be cautiously optimistic. After all, no one really wants the situation to get worse.