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1st LD: S. Korea's ex-first lady to visit DPRK in early August

Xinhua, July 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

The widow of late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung will make a four-day visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Aug. 5, local media reported Monday.

A group of aides to Lee Hee-ho and officials of the Kim Dae- jung Peace Center commemorating the former president held talks with their DPRK counterparts in the DPRK's border city of Kaesong, where an inter-Korean factory park is housed.

Kim Seong-jae, former culture minister who led the group, was quoted as saying that top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un suggested Lee visit the DPRK by plane from Aug. 5, citing her age.

The Lee side accepted the invitation though Lee, 93, originally asked for her visit by land.

Regarding Lee's possible meeting with the top DPRK leader, Kim Seong-jae said that it depended on the DPRK.

Lee's trip was proposed in late 2014 by top leader Kim Jong Un who invited her to Pyongyang in gratitude for her sending a wreath of condolence flowers to mark the third anniversary of the death of late DPRK leader Kim Jong Il.

In 2000, Lee accompanied her husband as the first lady to the DPRK where late President Kim Dae-jung held the first inter-Korean summit with Kim Jong Il.

The widow also made a two-day visit to Pyongyang in December 2011 to condole with top leader Kim Jong Un with the death of his father. Endi