Former S Korean first lady to visit North next month

The wife of late South Korean president Kim Dae-Jung will visit North Korea next month, his foundation said on Monday, and possibly meet with leader Kim Jong-Un.

The Kim Dae-Jung Peace Centre in Seoul said the agreement on dates for the four-day visit by 93-year-old Lee Hee-Ho was reached following talks with officials in North Korea. Lee has visited the North three times -- the last occasion being to pay her respects following the death of former leader Kim Jong-Il in December 2011.

She is the widow of Kim Dae-Jung, who instituted the “sunshine policy” of engagement with North Korea that led to <g data-gr-id="20">an historic</g> summit with Kim Jong-Il in 2000.

It was not immediately clear if Lee would meet Kim’s son and successor, Kim Jong-Un, who had initially extended Lee an invitation to visit last year, after she sent a wreath marking the third anniversary of his father’s death.

The trip will ostensibly be a humanitarian one, with Lee planning to visit a children’s hospital, a maternity home and an orphanage in Pyongyang.

But an audience with Kim Jong-Un would be significant, as the reclusive leader has yet to meet with any South Korean citizen since formally assuming power more than three years ago.

An official with the Kim Dae-Jung Peace <g data-gr-id="22">Centre,</g> said the North Korean side had relayed Kim Jong-Un’s approval for Lee to fly directly from the South to the North.

Direct flights between the two countries, who remain technically at war, are extremely rare.