hankyoreh

By Hwang Joon-bum and Song Chae Kyung-hwa, staff reporters

On June 19, former presidential chief of staff Im Tae-hee conceded that he contacted North Korean officials in secret on an October 2009 visit to Singapore. Officially, the government has denied their clandestine meeting so far.

Im, who recently announced his plans to compete for the New Frontier Party (NFP) presidential nomination, told the Hankyoreh that, “At that time, we wrote the first draft of a memorandum of understanding to hold the third inter-Korean summit.”

“But we couldn‘t reach a final agreement.” Im said. “After we brought the first draft, I revised it several times and I suggested leaving the final agreement for the following meeting.”

He added, “The North Korean officials asked me for the draft, saying they had to report it to their leader. I told them, ’this is South Korea‘s stance, but the final decision should be made by both the South Korean Ministry of Unification and its North Korean counterpart, the United Front Department.’”

Around October 2009 there was a rumor that Im had spoken with Kim Yang-gun of the North Korean United Front Department in Singapore but the South Korean government has denied it.

The key point of the first draft of the memorandum was that South Korea would offer financial aid if North Korea repatriates South Korean prisoners of war and civilian abductees.

“I cannot reveal the number of the prisoners and detainees, but I met them quite a few times,” said Im. “In the meeting, we discussed North Korea‘s repatriation of prisoners, abductees, and separated families and South’s corresponding advantages for that with assistance of food and goods.”

The memorandum of understanding was handed over to the South-North Authorities meeting, but they failed to clinch the deal.

"The official South-North meeting was held in Kaesong November 2009, but it was ruptured. And then the next March, the Cheonan warship sank,” a source from the government said.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]