Chapter 32 Invitation letter from North Korea

"Member, North Korea has proposed to invite you to visit North Korea." Just as I was preparing for the future joint founding of the Korean Party, I also served as a director of the European-Korean Foundation (EKF), and the European-Korean Foundation proposed an unexpected invitation to invite me to visit North Korea for four days and three nights. The Europe-Korea Foundation, which is affiliated with the European Union Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Korea, has been actively supporting activities such as sending footballs and medicines to North Korean children, and has also made many proposals on economic cooperation between Europe and North Korea.North Korea is very concerned about the Europe-Korea Foundation and wanted to express its gratitude, so it invited several directors of the foundation, including me.

I have heard North Korea want to invite me from people who have returned from visits to North Korea before, but this time I was invited directly. What kind of place is North Korea to me?My mother was shot and killed by North Korean spies, and North Korean special forces once invaded Cheong Wa Dae to attack my father and family.I saw my father worrying about the country in order to resist the threat from the north.So it was not easy for me to decide whether to go to North Korea or not. But now I think that I should let go of the pain and memories of the past, and because I have experienced such pain, it is more possible to untie the relationship between the North and the South.So, I decided to go to North Korea.

"Is Ms. Park Geun-hye really coming to the Republic?" When I heard the news that I decided to go to North Korea, North Korea was surprised.I also received a request from North Korea to write a letter confirming my visit to North Korea, which I did. Before leaving, I sorted out the things that the government should have been promoting in North-South relations, but there has been no progress.For example, the issue of national captives, the Mount Kumgang dam issue, the South Korean media reported that the dam at Mount Kumgang is in danger of breaking the embankment, which has caused tension between the North and the South, and there are also permanent meeting places for separated family members, the long-dreamed-for connection of the North-South railway, and the holding of the North-South reunification football There are a few matters that need to be agreed on, such as the competition.I informed the Ministry of Unification of these matters, and when I met with Chief Jeong Se-hyun of the Ministry of Unification, I discussed these pending matters that I wanted to raise to the North.

At one o'clock in the afternoon on May 10, 2002, I took a plane from Incheon Airport to Beijing, China.People at the airport who knew that I was going to visit Pyongyang all said to me, "Good luck on your journey." One of the seventy-seven-year-old grandpas approached me, handed me a note in his hand, and held my hands tightly.The note contained the details of the identity data of his separated family members in North Korea. He asked me to help find his family members.Hearing the old man's earnest request, I felt very heavy, and thought: "I must resolve the regrets of these people's lives as soon as possible..."

The day after we arrived in Beijing, when we were waiting at the airport terminal to take Air Koryo to Pyongyang, one of our companions rushed to inform us: "Chairman Kim Jong Il sent a special plane and asked us to go there by special plane." This is beyond our expectations.At 11:50 in the morning, this special plane carried only four of us and flew from Beijing Airport to Pyongyang.The special plane arrived at Pyongyang Sun'an Airport at 2:30 in the afternoon. The airport was crowded with welcome crowds. The North Korean media and the Central Committee Chairman of the Workers' Party and other relevant personnel came to the airport to greet them.The first step in Pyongyang was full of mixed feelings, and at the same time, I also had a strong sense of mission in my heart.

The urban area of ​​Pyongyang is the same as what you see on TV, there is no difference.There are no cars or pedestrians on the road, and it feels empty, but it is quite clean.The Daedong River is also like the Han River in Seoul, the river flows slowly through the urban area.As soon as we entered the Baihuayuan Guest House where we stayed, Secretary Jin Yongsun of the Central Committee of the Labor Party was waiting for us at the door.Secretary Kim guided us to the room and introduced that the room I lived in was the room where President Kim Dae-jung lived in 2000. Not long after, when I was alone in the room, I finally felt the reality of Pyongyang.

I woke up at half past five in the morning when the sky was still dark.Perhaps because of the tense relationship, my body has been unable to relax. After the dantian breathing, I slowly walked to the courtyard for a walk.It started to rain at this time, it was rain from heaven!Because I learned on the way here that North Korea is suffering from drought, the rain should be of great help to transplanting rice in June.Several hotel employees passed by, greeted me with a smile, and said, "It seems that you have brought the rain of southern joy here." After breakfast, I met and chatted with Secretary Jin Yongshun for about an hour.Secretary Kim mentioned the issue of the Mount Kumgang Dam. He said that North Korea was very unhappy because South Korea reported that the Kumgang Dam project was cutting corners, so the inter-Korean talks were canceled.

I answered calmly: "I can understand why you are unhappy. But since an appointment has been made to talk, the North should abide by the agreement. Only by keeping promises can mutual trust be accumulated." On May 13, I went around looking at many facilities in Pyongyang.Among them, Pyongyang Maternity Hospital, the largest maternity hospital in North Korea, impressed me the most.When I visited the hospital facility with their medical team, a doctor in the medical equipment department shared his difficulties.He said that Lee Hee-ho visited and brought an ultrasonic tester when the leaders of the North and the South met in 2000, but it failed and could not be repaired because there were no parts.I immediately asked what part it was and recorded it.

On the evening of May 13th, after finishing the official schedule and preparing to take a rest, a lively sound suddenly came from outside.Then someone told that Chairman Kim Jong Il had come to the Baekwonwa Guest House where I was staying and that he wanted to have an hour-long private interview with me in a separate conference room in the Baekwonwa Guest House. I sat face to face with Chairman Kim Jong Il, with only one recorder on hand.He is a very frank and straightforward person.After exchanging simple greetings, not long after, he suddenly talked about the attack on the Cheong Wa Dae by North Korean special forces in 1968, and apologized to me: "The extremists made mistakes at that time. I am sorry. Everyone who made mistakes punished."

I was deeply impressed by Chairman Kim Jong Il's way of speaking and attitude.I started first and said: "I think that while strengthening exchanges, the South and the North must cooperate with each other in order to naturally open the road to peaceful reunification." Chairman Kim Jong Il nodded.I continued, "The issue of separated family members and the identification of the lives and deaths of the national soldiers and civilians who disappeared during the Korean War should be carried out immediately. It is necessary for those who have been sad for a lifetime to meet their lost family members. I think a permanent meeting place for separated family members should be established as soon as possible.”

The establishment of a permanent meeting place for separated families is very necessary, but it is difficult for North Korea to easily accept it because it is a politically sensitive part.However, Chairman Kim Jong-il readily agreed to the proposal.Immediately our conversation picked up speed and I brought up the matter about the Mount Kumgang dam. “I know that the North is very unhappy about the accusation of cutting corners. However, if this is the case, a joint investigation team should be formed between the South and the North to investigate. After the investigation is found, repair the parts that need to be repaired, and report the things that are not true. , so that North Korea can wash away its grievances, and the people in the south can feel at ease. What do you think?" "Okay, let's form an investigation team of experts from the North and the South to investigate together." Chairman Kim Jong Il was particularly concerned about the connection of the North-South Railway.I suggest connecting the North and the South by railways to make the Korean peninsula an international logistics base, so that both the North and the South can create economic benefits.He expressed strong affirmation to my proposal.We also discussed some practical problems in the actual implementation of the plan to connect the North-South East China Sea Line all the way to the Trans-Siberian Railway. After talking for about an hour, Chairman Kim Jong Il and I agreed on many things.The north-south football match has been interrupted for a while, and we have also agreed to restart this kind of sports exchange in order to develop mutual friendly exchanges. Finally, I asked him: "You promised to return to the south, can you really keep the promise?" Chairman Kim Jong-il said that he would find another suitable opportunity to go, and if he came to visit, he would visit President Park's grave.I expressed my desire to make all the conversations transparent to the media, and he immediately said, "Please decide for yourself." It showed his trust in me. After the private interview, Chairman Kim Jong-il, Secretary Kim Yong-sun, Minister of the First Organization Department of the Labor Party Jang Song-taek, Minister of the First Department Lim Dong-ok and our group had a meal together, which lasted about two hours.At the last supper time, I once again emphasized the necessity of building trust between the North and the South.Chairman Kim Jong Il informed the North Korean participants present at the meeting of the content of the agreement he had just talked with me, and asked: "You must earnestly implement it." During the meal, Chairman Kim Jong-il told a secret history about my father.Just before the "July 4 Inter-Korean Joint Statement" was issued, during the negotiations between the North and the South, the representative of North Korea mentioned: "The South and the North should each reduce their troops by tens of thousands." My father immediately interrupted him: "That can't be done." The representative of North Korea said, "That's a proposal that is beneficial to both parties, why not agree?" To the question of the representative of the North, my father replied: "Even if the number of North Koreans is reduced by 80,000, just blow the whistle. It can be summoned again, but not in the south, even with gongs and drums, it cannot be summoned quickly." When the dinner was about to end, Chairman Kim Jong Il asked me which route I would take to go back. I said of course that I would fly back to South Korea via Beijing. "Is it necessary to take such a long detour? Why don't you go back via Panmunjom?" This is a proposal I never expected. "If that's the case, of course." After the four-day and three-night trip, on the day we were going back to South Korea, we set off from Pyongyang by car and passed through Kaesong to Panmunjom.The road from Pyongyang to Kaesong is very straight. Acacia flowers are blooming on both sides of the road, and the fragrance of flowers floats into the car from the car window.On the way, I visited the ruins of Kaesong. I only saw photos before, but now I see Shanzhu Bridge with my own eyes, and I have mixed feelings in my heart.Now it has become the Sungkyunkan of the Koryo Museum. At the entrance, there are several zelkova trees that are more than one hundred years old, spending a long and long time together with history. After visiting North Korea, on the way back, I kept thinking that, as a fellow ethnic group, I would be separated by the high wall of the armistice line. I couldn't help but feel heartbroken about this reality.Especially when we came back from Panmunjom, we felt that the South and the North are so close at hand, but we had to go around a long way, and our desire for reunification became stronger. Not long after returning from a trip to North Korea, they received a contact letter from the north, and they hoped that the joint investigation of the Mount Kumgang Dam could begin.I wrote back and told them that the agreement on the visit to North Korea must go through a government-to-government transparent procedure. In the future, please discuss with the South Korean government, and all this has been reported to the Ministry of Unification. After that, good news came one after another. At the Red Cross talks held in September, North Korea, which originally did not even recognize the fact that the national army had captured them, even proposed to find soldiers who disappeared during the war first, which shocked our negotiators.The northern delegation stated that Chairman Kim Jong Il personally instructed that the lives, deaths and addresses of war missing persons must be confirmed, and he showed his will to abide by this instruction.North Korea's attitude is very positive. Especially the note that my 77-year-old grandfather handed me at the airport, I had handed it over to the North during my visit, and the person in charge in the North had already informed the life and death of that grandfather’s separated family members through the Ministry of Unification.After I learned about this, I was very happy.There are also ultrasound machines in the Pyongyang Maternity Hospital and other machines that cannot be used due to malfunctions, and the Ministry of Unification has also resolved the problems.Knowing such news makes me even more happy. North-South unified football restarted for the first time in 12 years, and sports exchanges between the North and the South also started.Taking this as an opportunity, we formed a "North and South Single Team" to participate in the Asian Games football match held in Busan.By all accounts, Chairman Kim Jong Il is indeed trying to open up and keep his promises. After returning from North Korea, I found a clue to solve the North-South issue.That is based on sincerity and mutual trust, in order to expect more negotiation results and agreements.If you only observe the movement in the north or only pay attention to political calculations, you will not be able to trust each other, and it is meaningless to only pay attention to the number of times you meet and the time of conversation.It should be said that the more distrustful meetings there are, the lower the trust between the two parties will be. But we also have to examine why government-to-government meetings become impossible to keep the agreement.I think it's because there may have been some opaque things involved in the past.An honest conversation with the North shows that they are also trying to keep the promises they made.I confirmed this fact by visiting North Korea.

---

Notes: