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By Kim Hyo-jin
Rep. Park Jie-won and Hyundai Group's Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun have requested to visit Gaeseong in North Korea, a government official said Sunday.
It has been a week two South Korean delegations from the Kim Dae Jung Peace Center and from Hyundai Group made a separate one-day trip to the North to deliver a wreath commemorating the third anniversary of the death of the reclusive state's late leader Kim Jong-il.
The request was made following an invitation from Pyongyang.
Last Friday, Kim Yang-gon, director of the North Korean United Front Department, invited aides of the late President Kim Dae-jung and officials of the Hyundai Group to express gratitude for their visits to the North.
"Following the North's invitation, officials of the Kim Dae-jung Peace Center and Hyundai Asan Group called for permission to visit North Korea on Dec. 24," a unification ministry official said. "The government plans to decide on whether to approve it around Dec. 23."
It is not immediately clear why Kim Yang-gon, who is in charge of relations with the South, invited them again, even though Won Dong-yon, the deputy head of the committee, had expressed gratitude to the South Korean delegation at the meeting on the anniversary.
There is a speculation that the North will make it an opportunity to remind the South of its stance on inter-Korean relations. "North Korea has expressed its desire to resume talks with the South," said Kim Yeon-chul, a professor of unification studies at Inje University.
However, he cautioned against raising expectations about the proposed visit. "The North could simply deliver its basic stance once again," said the professor.
"The improvement of inter-Korean relations now depends on the South Korean government. President Park needs to show her willingness to the North if she wants to thaw strained relations," he added.
