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    December 25, 2011

S. Korean Groups in North Korea to Pay Respects

   VOA News
   The wife of the late former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, Lee
   Hee-ho, center, and Hyundai Group chairman Hyun Jeong-eun, right
   Photo: AP/Wally Santana
   The wife of the late former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, Lee
   Hee-ho, center, and Hyundai Group chairman Hyun Jeong-eun, right,
   prepare to depart from the Inter-Korean Transit Terminal from the
   border village of Paju in the demilitarized zone, Monday, Dec. 26,
   2011.

   Two private South Korean delegations have crossed the heavily fortified
   border into North Korea to pay respects to its late leader Kim Jong Il.
   The delegation were led by the widow of former South Korean President
   Kim Dae-jung, who held a landmark summit with Kim Jong Il in 2000, and
   Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun, whose late husband had ties to
   the North.
   South Korea only is allowing the two groups to visit and pay
   condolences for Mr. Kim's death.
   Pyongyang accused Seoul of preventing other South Koreans from crossing
   the border to pay respects, and suggested the move could strain
   relations between the two countries.
   Preparations are under way for a Wednesday funeral for Mr. Kim, who is
   said to have died December 17.

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