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| Leaders of the three liberal parties of South Korea, including head of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea Lee Hae-chan, meet with Kim Yong-nam, the ceremonial leader of North Korea and president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly at Mansudae National Assembly Hall. Joint Press Corps. |
By Jung Da-min, Joint Press Crops
SEOUL/PYONGYANG ― Over 50,000 people had signed a petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website as of Wednesday night criticizing the "no-show" of three party chiefs for a meeting with North Korean officials on the sidelines of the Pyongyang inter-Korean summit.
Lee Hae-chan of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), Chung Dong-young of the Party for Democracy and Peace (PDP) and Lee Jeong-mi of the Justice Party were supposed to meet Kim Yong-nam, the North's president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) on Tuesday.
But because South Korean ministers including Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and Unification Minister Cho Myong gyon did not attend the talks between President Moon Jae-in and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, SPA president Kim Yong-nam met the ministers. It was then arranged for SPA vice president An Tong-chun to meet the three South Korean political leaders.
But the South Korean trio did not show up because they was expecting to meet the SPA president.
The issue was raised with Kim Jong-un at a dinner on Tuesday night and the meeting eventually went ahead at 10 a.m. Wednesday. Among the agendas during the 50-minute meeting was holding an inter-Korean parliamentary meeting within the year as well as a joint event for the 100th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement next year.
The main conservative Liberty Party of Korea (LKP) floor leader Kim Sung-tae on Wednesday criticized the three party chiefs for their no-show, saying they are not helping President Moon's trip to Pyongyang.
