SOMETIMES SUNSHINE IS THE BEST INFECTANT (via Mike Daley)

South Korea 'did pay North for summit' (Andrew Ward, June 25 2003, Financial Times)

South Korean prosecutors on Wednesday said that former president Kim Dae-jung's government paid $100m to secure North Korea's participation in the two countries' historic summit three years ago.

Two senior aides to Mr Kim were indicted in connection with the secret payment, following a 70-day investigation into the "cash-for-summit" scandal.

The findings threatened the credibility of Seoul's "sunshine" policy of engagement with North Korea and tarnished the reputation of Mr Kim, who won the Nobel peace prize for the summit.

"The government was involved in secret cash remittances [to North Korea], which were made through improper channels," said Song Doo-Hwan, the special prosector who led the probe.

The payments add to the embarrassment but are really beside the point, which is that any negotiations at all with N. Korea represent a victory for the regime. You aren't negotiating their demise so you've already conceded the only issue that matters. Posted by Orrin Judd at June 26, 2003 8:41 AM