Former US President Jimmy Carter, former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Brundtland and former Irish President Mary Robinson arrived in Pyongyang on Tuesday representing the humanitarian NGO of former world leaders known as The Elders.
The entourage was greeted by Vice Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho and children bearing flowers. The 3 day trip is planned for the Elders to sit with top North Korean brass to discuss the ongoing food crisis and nuclear issues that North Korea faces. Carter stated that he hoped they would meet with Kim Jong-Il and even son and leader-to-be Kim Jong-Un, but no official meetings have been formalized as of yet. Carter also remarked that they were not there to secure the release of imprisoned Korean-American Jun Young-Su, a Christian businessman from Orange Country who was arrested last November and allegedly confessed to an unknown crime (probably illegal missionary work). Carter’s previous visit to the DPRK in August 2010 secured the release of another missionary-turned-prisoner, Aijalon Gomes.
The group depart North Korea on Thursday, taking the rare route of flying directly from Pyongyang to Seoul (instead of stopping over in Beijing). It’s likely we won’t hear much more from these talks until their return.
Source: Yonhap News / Associated Press / CanKor
