Envoy arrives in N. Korea

Lim hopes to convince the North Korean leader to fulfill a promise to visit South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- A South Korean special envoy has arrived in North Korea charged with a mission to try and kick-start stalled bilateral relations and to convince the communist nation to enter into talks with the United States.

With frosty relations between Pyongyang and Washington complicating his agenda, Lim Dong-won, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung's special adviser on security and unification affairs, will hold three days of talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and other officials.

"I am going to Pyongyang to prevent the build-up of tensions on the Korean peninsula and open the channels of stalemated North-South relations," Lim Dong told a news conference prior to his departure from Seoul.

"I will convey fully President Kim's thoughts on peace and national reconciliation and listen to the views of the highest authorities in North Korea," Lim added.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have been described by North Korea as a "grave situation" and Lim's visit will be the first public contact between the two nations since November.

"Peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula are most important, and I hope to see agreement on national reconciliation and cooperation and on the sincere implementation on North-South projects already agreed," Reuters news agency quoted the South Korean president as saying.

Local media reports said that Lim aimed is to convince North Korean leader Kim Jong Il to visit South Korea and also to restart dialogue with Japan and the United States.

Boost

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Those goals were given a boost following a rare diplomatic visit last week to North Korea by a foreign leader.

Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, after talks with her "old friend" Kim Jong Il, said that Pyongyang responded "affirmatively" to the possible resumption of talks with the United States.

"I delivered a message from President Kim Dae-jung, to which leader Kim Jong Il responded affirmatively," Megawati said last week, though she did not go into any detail about her meeting. (Full story)

Lim will also carry with him a message from the South's Kim Dae-jung and told local media he hopes to revive a series of lapsed North-South cooperation projects.

The two sides have been divided since 1945 and are still technically at war as no armistice was signed to end the Korean war in 1953.

Historic summit

The two Kim's (Kim Jong Il is left in the photo) met during an historic summit in June 2000

Relations between the nations briefly warmed after an historic summit between South Korea's Kim and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang in June 2000.

It was during this summit that the North's Kim made a promise, as yet unfulfilled, to visit South Korea.

The summit brought about a new mood of reconciliation between the two sides, but any further thawing of relations has largely stalled since then.

The two countries agreed to a series of exchanges, including reunions between families divided since the Korean War -- three of which have taken place.

The last exchange occurred in February 2001 and restarting the reunions is also on Lim's agenda along with reopening railway and motor links that have been cut for half a century.

Posturing

A series of family reunions have taken place since the 2000 summit

In recent months, ties between North and South have been hit by sagging U.S.-North Korean relations.

In January U.S. President George W. Bush labeled the North part of an "axis of evil", along with Iraq and Iran, saying Pyongyang was intent on acquiring or building weapons of mass destruction.

Already smarting from the "axis" comment, the communist state was seething after it was revealed in March that it had been placed on a U.S. nuclear hit list.

That provoked a spate of strong words and posturing from North Korea as well as a threat to pull out of a crucial nuclear deal with the United States.