NewsMax.com Wires
Friday, Feb. 14, 2003

In a nationally televised address, Kim said he was aware of illegal payments to North Korea in June 2000 but allowed the crime in "national interest and reconciliation."

"I have caused great concerns to the people with the recent secret North Korea aid controversy. I am extremely sorry, and I am personally pained by it," Kim lamented.

Secret financial aid to North Korea is illegal under strict anti-communist National Security Law that bans unauthorized contacts with North Korea.

Good Reason Not to Buy a Hyundai

The 78-year-old president denied, however, that he had bribed the North to agree to stage the June 2000 summit with defiant dictator Kim Jong Il. He claimed the cash payments were connected to business deals between South Korea's Hyundai conglomerate and North Korea.

Kim said that Hyundai Merchant Marine had provided $500 million to secure exclusive rights to seven business projects in North Korea, including railways, power generation, communications, tourism and an industrial park.

"It was not related to the summit talks," Kim insisted.

Kim said he accepted Hyundai's money transfer and provided the cash favor, even though it was in violation of law, because he thought the criminal act would help "secure peace on the peninsula and promote national interest."

Citing the "peculiarities" of the inter-Korean relationship and the North's "feature as a reclusive country," Kim said initiatives sometimes must be conducted "outside the framework of the law."

Another Nobel 'Peace' Prize Bought

"Since it has become an open, public issue, I think the government should disclose details," suggested Kim, who received the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize for pandering to North Korea.

Kim's apology was widely seen as a move to ease a burden on his successor, Roh Moo-hyun, elected after promising to follow in Kim's footsteps by seeking closer ties with North Korea despite the regime's frequent threats. Kim leaves office on Feb. 25 after completing a five-year term.

Opposition lawmakers have called for a formal investigation into the payoffs.

"I take responsibility for this situation, but I earnestly hope that our people understand my innermost feelings about what I did out of my desire to promote peace and our national interest," he claimed.

Kim said the two Koreas should not go back to the former extreme Cold War rivalry. He defended his "sunshine policy" aimed at improving inter-Korean ties by offering economic incentives.

North Korea, which starves its own people and demands foreign aid even as it builds its massive army, has threatened to scrap inter-Korean reconciliation projects if the South takes action over the cash payoffs.

Copyright 2003 by United Press International.

All rights reserved.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
North Korea
Editor's note:
FREE - 4 Months to NewsMax.com’s Magazine. Check It Out - Get four FREE