Minister Denies Any Intent To Visit Kim Il-sung Grave

A former intelligence service chief told the Monthly JoongAng magazine that Han Wan-sang, now deputy prime minister for education, wanted to visit the grave of former North Korean leader Kim Il-sung when he was in Pyongyang last December. Mr. Han was then president of Sangji University in Wonju.

The education minister denied the charge.

Lee Jong-chan, a former director general of the National Intelligence Service, told the magazine that North Korean authorities "dissuaded" Mr. Han from making the trip. Mr. Lee also charged that the minister intended to "pay his respects" to the North Korean leader when he asked to visit his grave.

Mr. Han led a 42-member delegation to Pyongyang at the North's invitation for the 55th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean Workers Party. The full transcript of the interview with Mr. Lee will appear in the July edition of the magazine.

Mr. Lee also accused Mr. Han of an about-face on his intentions, quoting Mr. Han as saying prior to leaving for Pyongyang that he would never make such a visit. He said Mr. Han's alleged desire to visit the grave was especially troubling because Mr. Han earlier served as a deputy prime minister for unification in the Kim Young-sam administration.

In rebutting Mr. Lee's account, Mr. Han said while some members of the delegation wanted to visit the grave, he told them such a visit would create an obstacle to the improvement of North-South relations.

He said he notified the North Korean authorities that the delegation did not want to visit the site and the North Koreans did not take them there.

by Oh Min-soo