Ex-president demands NK leader's apology

Former president Kim Young-Sam launched an attack on the Kim Dae-Jung government Friday, taking issue with its misadministration and inter-Korean policies.

In a press conference held at his residence in Sangdo-dong, Seoul, the ex-president asserted that the inter-Korean summit agreement stipulating that South Korea`s federation and North Korea`s loose federation share some traits contradicted Article 4 of South Korea¡¯s Constitution, which provides for the basic order of free democracy.

Claiming that President Kim has maintained a self-righteous stance on inter-Korean problems, the former president said this would eventually make not only the President himself but also the entire people miserable. He went as far as to demand that North Korean Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong-Il apologize to the South Korean people before his visit to Seoul. Ex-president Kim called on the North Korean leader to voice remorse for acts of provocation such as the Korean War, the bombing of a Korean Air passenger jet and a terrorist bombing in Burma that targeted Seoul government leaders.

Turning on the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP), Kim YS criticized its positive assessment of the government`s unification policies, saying that the GNP must conduct itself like an opposition party. He expressed objections to the scaling down of military exercises while 2 million soldiers are standing face to face along the Military Demarcation Line. He even alleged that if Kim Jong-Il were the president of a unified Korea, Kim DJ would be one of his ministers, and if Kim Jong-Il were a company president, DJ would rank lower than even an executive director. Kim YS attacked the government and the ruling Millennium Democratic Party for remaining silent when the North Korean leader said that unification depended on his decision. If they continue to keep silent at this juncture, they will commit a sin before history and the people, he contended.

Asked if he had planned to take issue with the North`s responsibility for launching the Korean War while his government was preparing for the aborted inter-Korean summit in 1994, he said that this was true. Noting that more than 3 million people were killed during the internecine conflict, he disclosed that the late Kim Il-Sung first proposed to hold a summit with him. At that time, the North Korean leader stood on the edge of a precipice, he claimed, adding that had the meeting materialized, the senior Kim would have made many concessions.

Referring to the achievements of the Kim administration in the first half of its term in office, the ex-president answered that he had no interest in commenting on the matter. He claimed, however, that the President had lost 80 percent to 85 percent of his authority. YS went on to say that he had first thought that DJ had considerable experience, but there was now no hope for the President and the people can expect nothing from him.