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S. Korea begins dialogue with N. Korea with hopes to alleviate tension

June 30, 2015

In this Dec. 26, 2011 image made from APTN video, Kim Jong-un, right, late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il’s youngest known son and successor, shakes hands with Lee Hee-ho, the wife of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung who visits Kumsusan Memorial Palace to pay respects to the late leader in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/APTN)

South Korea may have discovered a path that will lead to alleviating tensions through dialogue with North Korea.

Former first lady of South Korea Lee Hee-ho plans to travel to Pyongyang as early as July for philanthropic purposes.

Officials visited the North on Tuesday to discuss details of Lee’s visit.

The meeting is significant considering that after the United Nations established a human rights office in Seoul on June 23 to monitor the communist nation, North Korea expressed its discontent while even threatening military action.

“North-South relations have come to face the worst catastrophe,” it said through its national newspaper Rodong Sinmun. “The last stop of the anti-Republic human rights ruckus is war.”

With international ties at a standstill, Lee, 93, hopes that her visit will warm relations between the two countries.

“The move could pave the way for alleviating tension in the Seoul-Pyongyang relations,” she told reporters on Monday according to Yonhap News Agency.

Lee met with current North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in 2011 in order to pay respects to his late father Kim Jong-il and she hopes to meet with him again during her upcoming visit.

Lee’s husband and late South Korean president Kim Dae-jung implemented the “sunshine policy” during his time in office from 1998-2003.

The measure encouraged interaction and exchanges between the two Koreas, which even led to the first summit meeting in 2000 with Kim Jong-il during the time he led the North.