Lee Hee-ho, the widow of former President Kim Dae-jung, visited two orphanages and a nursing home in Pyongyang on Wednesday, the second day of her four-day trip aimed at forging momentum for a thaw in the icy inter-Korean relations.
According to the Kim Dae-jung Peace Center that organized her trip, she visited “Yukawon” and “Aeyukwon,” orphanages for preschoolers and order children, respectively. She then went to “Pyongyang Nursing Home,” a facility North Korean leader Kim Jong-un recently inspected.
After a brief respite at the Baekhwawon Guest House, she visited Mount Myohyang, a resort mountain north of Pyongyang.
Attention was being drawn to whether she would meet with the North Korean leader. Given that Kim invited her, she is likely to meet him before she returns home Saturday, observers said.
Kim offered a handwritten invitation to Lee late last year after Lee sent condolence flowers to him on the occasion of the third anniversary last December of the death of his father, Kim Jong-il.
She took a direct flight over the West Sea to Pyongyang Wednesday, using South Korean low-cost carrier Eastar Jet. Her 18-member delegation included former Culture Minister Kim Sung-jae and Paik Nak-chung, professor emeritus at Seoul National University.
It was her third visit to the North following the first during the inter-Korean summit in 2000 and the second in 2011, during which she attended the funeral of former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
By Song Sang-ho(
sshluck@heraldcorp.com)
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