There are telephones on the South Korean side for defectors from the impoverished and reclusive North to call seeking help, although it was not immediately clear if Tuesday’s incident involved North Korea.
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South Korean President Park Geun-Hye offered North Korea a “door of opportunity” as she flagged off restoration work Wednesday on a railway line that could one day link both Koreas with Europe via the Trans-Siberian.
Lee is traveling to the North with a 19-member delegation at the invitation of leader Kim Jong Un. In local liberal circles, she remains a symbol of a presidency credited with fostering unusually warm inter-Korean relations, despite several fatal naval skirmishes that also occurred during the period.
Maeng, who visited Seoul in 2009 to attend the funeral of the late former President Kim, is one of the key figures in the North who have dealt with cross-border relations, an indication that Pyongyang regards Lee’s visit as an important state affair. Those efforts culminated in a historic joint summit with former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
Last year, Kim Jong Un invited Lee to visit after thanking her for sending condolence flowers on the third anniversary of the death of his father.
“We want the security of all the countries in the region and, of course, that of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, to be firmly ensured so that the legitimate interests of North Korea are respected by everyone, without exception”. “I wouldn’t, however, be too optimistic”.
On this trip, Lee is set to visit a children’s hospital, a maternity home and an orphanage in Pyongyang. Indeed, the very portrayal of the visit is out of her control. Lee and her 18-member entourage are scheduled to return home on Saturday.
“Lee accompanied her husband on that trip and also has been there since then”.
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The North’s representative in Malaysia said, however, that it depends on the U.S. whether his country changes its own stance – but for now the plan is to bolster its “high precision miniaturized nuclear forces to operative level”.
