President defers on N. Korea human rights

President Kim Dae-Jung made clear his intention that the South Korean government will not bring up human rights issues in North Korea for the time being.

"Since we have set out on a dialogue with North Korea and begun to resolve easy questions one by one, it is undesirable to raise such issues as could offend the North," he said Tuesday.

In an interview with the BBC, the president said emancipating the North Korean population from the fear of hunger and war is an important issue of human rights.

On the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to him, Kim expressed his wish to have shared it with North Korea's strongman Kim Jong-Il.

"I am sorry for him and also grateful to him," he added.

Asked if his winning the prize alone might be a hitch in the inter-Korean rapprochement, Kim observed that Chairman (of the National Defense Commission) Kim is not that narrow-minded.

"He impressed me as a leader who would not bother about such a trifle but is ready to work together steadily for peace, reconciliation, cooperation and eventual reunification of Korea," he said over the radio.