Kim warns of rich-poor gap

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Kim warns of rich-poor gap

OSLO - President Kim Dae-jung Thursday identified anger over the gap between rich and poor as a menace that will have to be placated for peace in this century.

He advocated "dialogue and cooperation" as the sure road to peace. Mr. Kim, last year's Nobel Peace Prize laureate, addressed a symposium in honor of the Nobel Peace Prize centennial.

"The two main causes for war in the 20th century were nationalism and ideology," Mr. Kim said. "Nationalistic confrontation threatens peace in some parts of the Middle East. The remnants of the Cold War remain on the Korean Peninsula." But other forces, he said, are emerging as sources of conflict.

"Behind the destructive fundamentalism that is occurring in various places in the world today or the anti-globalization movement is anger over the gap between the rich and the poor," President Kim said. "We cannot guarantee world peace in the 21st century unless there is a resolution of that gap."

Attending the symposium were 14 institutional winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, such as the International Red Cross, and 13 former individual winners, including the former Polish president, Lech Walesa.

On inter-Korean relations, Mr. Kim said they are at a "stalemate," but added, "I, along with the people of Korea, am convinced that the path toward success will open again without fail, if we make our utmost efforts with patience and consistency."

The president said that there is no alternative to his "sunshine" policy of engagement with the North and urged the participants to give his policy continuing support.

Mr. Kim got just that in his meeting with the Norwegian prime minister, Kjell Magne Bondevik, which took place early Thursday morning. Afterward, the Korean president said that Mr. Bondevik had promised Norway's cooperation for progress in inter-Korean relations. The two also agreed that South Korea would set up a scientific base on Svalbard Island, Norway, for joint cooperation in scientific research in the Arctic.

Mr. Kim and his wife Lee Hee-ho were invited to dinner Thursday by King Harald V. From Norway, the president heads to Hungary and the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. He returns home Wednesday.



by Kim Jin-kook

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