SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- South Korea bade farewell to former President Kim Dae-Jung Sunday in a ceremony attended by thousands of citizens, dignitaries and politicians.

The solemn Sunday afternoon ceremony was held outside parliament, with a large portrait of Kim placed on a shrine surrounded by flowers.

The funeral followed six days of mourning for Kim, who died Tuesday of a heart failure.

Kim's age at the time of his death was in dispute, with some reports saying he was 85 while others placing it at 83.

Kim's state funeral was the second such ever given in the country, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

Another president, Park Chung-hee, was also accorded a state funeral after his assassination while in office in 1979.

Kim -- who was president from 1998 to 2003 -- won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 for trying to foster better relations with North Korea.

The watershed moment of his presidency came in June 2000 when he met North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, becoming the first South Korean leader to do so since the Korean War unofficially ended in 1953.

But rapproachment talks between the two sides hit a wall after conservative South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in early 2008 with a tougher stance toward the North than Kim and his successor, Roh Moo-hyun.

Ahead of the funeral, President Lee met with a visiting North Korean delegation, who delivered a message from Kim Jong Il expressing hopes for improved relations between the two countries.

Lee, in turn, reiterated his government's firm stance, presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan was quoted as saying by Yonhap.

But in a possible sign that icy relations between the two rival nations are nevertheless thawing, South Korean Unification Minister Hyun In Taek met with North Korean unity leader Kim Yang Gon on Saturday.

It was the first high-level, cross-border contact in nearly two years.

The meetings between officials of the two Koreas are in stark contrast to the tense public statements they made about each other earlier this year.

Tensions between the two were heightened in July when North Korea launched seven short-range missiles toward the Sea of Japan.

The launches came after North Korea conducted a nuclear test on May 25 and threatened the United States and South Korean ships near its territorial waters.

South Korea condemned the action, calling the launches "provocative" and "unwise."

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The two Koreas technically remain in a state of war because their three-year conflict ended in 1953 with a truce, not a peace treaty. Tanks and troops still guard the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone bisecting the peninsula.

Kim Dae-jung, however, was respected on both sides of the border. As president from 1998 to 2003, he advocated a "Sunshine Policy" of engaging the isolated North and sought to ease reconciliation by plying the impoverished nation with aid.

In 2000, he traveled to Pyongyang for the summit with Kim Jong Il. Raising their hands aloft in a sight that would have been unimaginable just years earlier, the two Kims pledged to embark on a new era of peace on the Korean peninsula.

The following years saw a blossoming of reconciliation projects, including the emotional temporary reunions of thousands of family members separated by the Korean War, the restoration of a cross-border cargo train and inter-Korean business ventures.

Some criticized the flow of money to North Korea, which has evaded years of international pressure to dismantle its nuclear program.

Relations have been tense since Lee, a conservative, took office in February 2008, abandoning the Sunshine Policy and insisting that North Korea must prove its commitment to international nuclear disarmament pacts before it can expect aid.

Pyongyang, in response, ditched the reconciliation talks and most of the inter-Korean projects and routinely excoriated Lee in state media as "scum" and a "traitor" to Korean reconciliation.

The North also has been locked in an international standoff with the U.S. and other nations over its atomic ambitions after launching a rocket, test-firing missiles and conducting an underground nuclear test this year.

However, there have been signs the tensions may be easing. After welcoming former President Bill Clinton during his mission to secure the release of two jailed American reporters, the North freed a South Korean citizen held for four months. Pyongyang also said it would allow some joint projects to resume.

Kim Dae-jung's death prompted condolences from Kim Jong Il, who authorized the high-level delegation of six to pay their respects - the first time the North has sent officials to mourn a South Korean president.

Led by senior Workers' Party official Kim Ki Nam and spy chief Kim Yang Gon, the delegation went straight to the National Assembly mourning site Friday to leave a wreath on behalf of Kim Jong Il and bow before Kim's portrait.

Extending their trip by a day, three North Korean officials met Sunday morning with Lee, relaying Kim Jong Il's thoughts on "progress on inter-Korean cooperation," presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said. He declined to quote the exact message, citing the sensitivity of the matter.

The South Korean president then detailed his government's "consistent and firm" policy on North Korea and reiterated the need for "sincere" dialogue between the two Koreas, the spokesman said.

"We're returning in a positive mood," Kim Ki Nam told reporters before departing.

Hours later, a somber funeral took place at the National Assembly, where Kim - who endured torture, death threats and imprisonment during his decades as a dissident - triumphantly took the oath of office as South Korea's president in 1998.

Though best known abroad for his efforts to reach out to North Korea, Kim Dae-jung was admired at home for devoting his life to the fight for democracy during South Korea's early years of authoritarian rule.

A native of South Jeolla Province in the southwest, he went up against Seoul's military and political elite. He narrowly lost to Park Chung-hee in a 1971 presidential election - a near-win that earned him Park's wrath. Weeks later, Kim was injured in a traffic accident he believed was an assassination attempt, and barely survived a Tokyo abduction engineered by South Korean intelligence.

In 1980, tens of thousands took to the streets in Kim's southern stronghold, Gwangju, to protest the junta that seized power when Park was assassinated in office. Kim, accused of fomenting the protests, was sentenced to death.

International calls for leniency resulted in a suspended prison sentence, and he went into exile. Returning in 1985, he helped usher in a new era of democracy in South Korea. "We love you, Mr. President Kim Dae-jung. We will not forget you," read one banner outside the National Assembly. "Democracy, peace, human rights: We will carry out your will, Mr. President," read another. Yellow ribbons and balloons lined the street leading to parliament.

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Wall Street Journal, Lee EVAN RAMSTAD reported that ROK President Lee Myung Pak met with the group of five North Koreans, led by Kim Ki Nam, secretary of the ruling Workers Party and a top aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, for 30 minutes. The meeting was one of the first in a series President Lee held with dignitaries from other countries who came for former President Kim's state funeral, scheduled for Sunday afternoon.

The meeting marked the first major outreach by the North's authoritarian regime to ROK President. Lee, who last year cut the South's economic assistance to North Korea because of its pursuit of nuclear weapons. North Korean media regularly vilifies President. Lee and its government cut most contact, imposed more border restrictions and sought more money in other ways from the South as a result of the policy change undertaken by President Lee.

Even this week, North Korea initiated plans for the delegation's trip to Seoul with associates of the late President Kim rather than current South Korean government officials, though they were later involved.

The five-person North Korean group, which also includes Kim Yang Gon, the chief of North Korea's spy agency, arrived Friday afternoon and laid flowers at the main memorial site for Kim Dae-jung, who died Tuesday and had won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts as president to reach out to North Korea.

The group originally planned to leave Saturday morning and not meet senior South Korean government officials. But late Friday, the North Koreans asked to meet Hyun In-taek, the South's Minister of Unification and its point person for dealing with North Korea, and stay longer.

Mr. Hyun met the delegation in his office for 80 minutes Saturday morning and hosted them for dinner Saturday night. The meeting with ROK President, Lee Myung Pak was announced after the dinner. "We hope this will become a turning point in South-North Korean relations," Mr. Hyun said after the dinner.

North Korea has been upset that ROK President, Lee Myung Pak reversed South Korea's policy of providing unconditional economic assistance to it, a move that cost the North about $300 million last year. Such assistance began under Kim Dae-jung and was accelerated by his successor, Roh Moo-hyun, even as North Korea proceeded with the development of nuclear weapons and conducted its first test of a nuclear weapon in 2006.

Instead, ROK President, Lee Myung Pak decided that South Korean economic assistance would only flow to Pyongyang when its government took steps to reverse its pursuit of nuclear weapons. The South continues to provide North Korea with food, medicine and other humanitarian aid.

The difficulties in the inter-Korean relationship grew at the same time that North Korea angered other countries by accelerating its nuclear weapons program and walking away from diplomatic talks to end it.

Earlier this year, North Korea tested a long-range missile for the third time and a nuclear explosive for the second time, drawing new economic sanctions from the United Nations Security Council and many countries as a result.

This month, North Korea began to reduce tensions by freeing two American journalists and a South Korean factory worker, who it had arrested in March, and by declaring anew that it wanted to talk to U.S. officials.

North Korea may be making such moves because it is feeling pressure from the sanctions and because its leader, Kim Jong Il, has been ill and is trying to shore up his regime and prepare to transfer it to a son in the event of his death.

But the country may also simply be exhibiting the latest turn in a pattern for economic and political survival that it has used since the collapse of its former benefactor, the Soviet Union, two decades ago: raise tension with bad behavior and then seek security guarantees and money from other countries to end the belligerence.

This past Wednesday, North Korean diplomats to the U.N., in a visit with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, repeated the country's long-stated desire for bilateral talks with the U.S.

The State Department responded by repeating the stance that it's willing to meet North Korea for two-way talks in the framework of a six-nation diplomatic process, which it has used since 2003 after North Korea broke previous bilateral deals.

A senior Chinese official, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Wu Dawei, spent the past week in Pyongyang trying to persuade North Korean officials to return to the six-nation process, which also involves China, Japan, Russia and South Korea. For questions, you may Write to Evan Ramstad at evan.ramstad@wsj.com

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15th President of South Korea, Kim Dae-jung was born in 3 December 1925, died Tuesday of a heart failure in 18 August 2009. He was President of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. He received the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize. As of this date Kim is the first and only Nobel laureate to hail from Korea. A Roman Catholic since 1957, he has been called the "Nelson Mandela of Asia" for his long-standing opposition to authoritarian rule. Assembly and Religious Memorial services were given from many places for the late former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009. Yahoo news Report shows that the tens of thousands of mourners filled the lawn outside parliament for the state funeral Sunday of the former 15th President Kim, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to reach out to communist North Korea.

During his presidency, he successfully shepherded South Korea's economic recovery, brought in a new era of economic transparency and fostered a greater role of South Korea in the world stage, including the FIFA World Cup, jointly hosted by Korea and Japan in 2002. Kim completed his 5-year presidential term in 2003 and was succeeded by Roh Moo-hyun. A presidential library at Yonsei University was built to preserve Kim's legacy, and there is a convention center named after him in the city of Gwangju, the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center.

His heart for the country will always be a remembered as what President Lee Myung Pak says. Prayers and condolances for loved ones and his families.

Reported by catch4all.com, Sandra Englund, August 23rd, 2009.

Sources:

Yahoo News

Reuthers

CNN News

Wikipedia

The Korea Times

Youtube

Wall Street Journal World News:

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A South Korean protester carries a mock North Korean missile with portraits of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il during a rally against the North's nuclear and missile programs in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, June 15, 2009. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Monday that the country's alliance with the United States is key to resolving North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, as a news report said the allies pinpointed 11 underground sites in the North for a possible third atomic test

Sources: Yahoo.com

WASHINGTON - Declaring North Korea a "grave threat" to the world, President Barack Obama on Tuesday pledged the U.S. and its allies will aggressively enforce fresh international penalties against the nuclear-armed nation and stop rewarding its leaders for repeated provocations. In a display of unity with South Korea's leader, Obama said the world must break a pattern in which North Korea puts the globe on edge, only to put itself in line for concessions if it holds out long enough. "We are more than willing to engage in negotiations to get North Korea on a path of peaceful coexistence with its neighbors, and we want to encourage their prosperity," Obama said in the Rose Garden alongside South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. "But belligerent, provocative behavior that threatens neighbors will be met with significant and serious enforcement of sanctions that are in place." Obama's comments came at a time of intensifying concern, with the North stepping up its bomb-making activities and threatening war against any country that blockades its ships. Pentagon officials warned on Tuesday that North Korea's missiles could strike the U.S. within three years if its weapons growth goes unchecked. Emboldened by fresh assurances of protection by the United States, Lee went even further in warning that North Korea's tactics will not be tolerated. Asked if he felt his country was under the threat of attack from the North, Lee said his country's alliance with the U.S. will "prevent anything from happening." He said of the North Koreans, "They will think twice about taking any measures that they will regret." Defiantly pursuing its nuclear ambitions, North Korea has posed a major foreign policy challenge for Obama. However, the new president has found support from the international community, including a swift resolution of sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council just last week. The new punishments toughen an arms embargo against North Korea and authorize ship searches in an attempt to thwart the Koreans' nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The U.N., however, did not authorize military force to enforce the measures. North Korea provoked that rebuke by conducting its second nuclear test on May 25, following recent missile launches that had already alarmed the world. Beyond enforcement of the new U.N. penalties, Lee said he and Obama agreed on something more _ a push for other new policies that will "effectively persuade North Korea to irrevocably dismantle all their nuclear weapons programs." The South Korean leader said those measures will be discussed among the five nations that had been working with North Korea on disarmament until talks stalled: the U.S., South Korea, Japan, Russia and China. He did not elaborate, and the White House had no comment on the matter. North Korea has bargained with other countries for more than a decade about giving up its nuclear program, gaining such concessions as energy and economic aid, and then reneging. The North is thought to have enough weaponized plutonium for at least half a dozen atomic bombs and is believed to be preparing for another nuclear test. Deepening the crisis, it responded to the new sanctions by promising to "weaponize" all its plutonium and step up its nuclear bomb-making by enriching uranium _ the first time it had acknowledged it had such a program. Both plutonium and uranium can be used to make atomic bombs. With all that as a backdrop, Lee's treatment at the White House was meant to underscore solidarity at a perilous time. The South Korean president was the first foreign leader in Obama's nearly five-month-old presidency to get the honor of a joint appearance in the Rose Garden. He spoke repeatedly of his nation's firm partnership with the United States and thanked the American people "for their selfless sacrifice in defending my country and its people." Obama said the friendship was anchored in democratic values, and then he turned his words on the country's northern neighbor. "North Korea has abandoned its own commitments and violated international law," Obama said. "Its nuclear and ballistic missile programs post a grave threat to peace and security of Asia and to the world." Obama said that North Korea's record of threatening other countries and spreading nuclear technology around the world means it should not be recognized as a legitimate nuclear power. At a missile defense hearing on Capitol Hill, Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn pointed to North Korea's recent steps to speed up its long-range weapons program and agreed with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that the U.S. should be prepared for a "worst-case scenario." "We think it ultimately could _ if taken to its conclusion _ it could present a threat to the homeland," Lynn said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. At the Defense Department press secretary Geoff Morrell declined to say when interdiction operations might begin under the new U.N. sanctions, but he said the U.S. already has enough ships and other resources in the region to do the job. Morrell was asked what the point of the activity would be _ and whether it was only a half-measure _ as long as there was no authority to forcibly board Korean ships. "I think if the world is in agreement that we are all going to monitor and then attempt to compliantly board and attempt to then direct those ships into a port where they can then be inspected, that is real progress," he said. "That is more than what we were doing before." ___ Associated Press writers Robert Burns, Pauline Jelinek, Lara Jakes and Jennifer Loven contributed to this report. ------------------------------- According to the FAS report, there are reportedly as many as 22 nuclear facilities in 18 locations in North Korea. These include uranium mines, refinery plants, nuclear fuel plants, nuclear reactors, reprocessing facilities, and research facilities. FAS statement shows that the North Korea has atomic energy research centers in Yongbyon and Sunchon and a atomic power plant in Sinpo. Nuclear weapons development organs include the Atomic Energy Department of Kim Il-song University; the Physics Department of Kanggye Defense College; the metal science department under the Chemical Department of and the physics Research Institute of Pyongsong College of Science; the college of physics in Yongbyon atomic research center; and uranium mines in Kusong in North Pyongan province, an unidentified place in North Hwanghae province, and Sunchon in South Pyongan province. Natural uranium has been processed near the cities of Sunchon and Pyongsan since the 1960's. See the following locations for the Nuclear Facilities (Source: FAS): FAS (Federation of American Scientists) Recent IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) Press Release shows that International Nuclear Safety Experts Conclude IAEA Peer Review of Canada´s Regulatory System. An international team of nuclear safety experts today completed a two-week IAEA review of the regulatory framework and effectiveness of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). The team identified good practices within the system and gave advice on some areas for improvement. The IAEA has conveyed initial findings to Canadian authorities; the final report will be submitted by autumn. The IAEA is the world´s center of cooperation in the nuclear field. It was set up as the world´s "Atoms for Peace" organization in 1957 within the United Nations family. The Agency works with its Member States and multiple partners worldwide to promote safe, secure and peaceful nuclear technologies. The IAEA works for the safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology. Its key roles contribute to international peace and security, and to the World's Millennium Goals for social, economic and environmental development. The IAEA is the world's nuclear inspectorate, with more than four decades of verification experience. Inspectors work to verify that safeguarded nuclear material and activities are not used for military purposes. The Agency is additionally responsible for the nuclear file in Iraq as mandated by the UN Security Council. The IAEA helps countries to upgrade nuclear safety and security, and to prepare for and respond to emergencies. Work is keyed to international conventions, standards and expert guidance. The main aim is to protect people and the environment from harmful radiation exposure. The IAEA also helps countries mobilize peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology. The work contributes to goals of sustainable development in fields of energy, environment, health, and agriculture, among others, and to cooperation in key areas of nuclear science and technology. The IAEA's programmes encourage the development of the peaceful applications of nuclear technology, provide international safeguards against its misuse, and facilitate the application of safety measures in its use. The organization and its Director General, Mohamed ElBaradei, were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize announced on 7 October 2005. Although IAEA represents the International, it is our responsible to take care the nature resources and healthy environment, secure, clean energy economic development and make the green world. Here is a great example from King County , Washington for environmental support in order to preparing for climate change impacts. Reported by catch4all.com, Sandra Englund, June 16, 2009. Resources: Yahoo.com King County Solid Waste Division IAEA.org Wikipedia

According to SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea's communist regime has warned of a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula while vowing to step up its atomic bomb-making program in defiance of new U.N. sanctions.

The North's defiance presents a growing diplomatic headache for President Barack Obama as he prepares for talks Tuesday with his South Korean counterpart on the North's missile and nuclear programs.

A commentary Sunday in the North's the main state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, claimed the U.S. has 1,000 nuclear weapons in South Korea. Another commentary published Saturday in the state-run Tongil Sinbo weekly claimed the U.S. has been deploying a vast amount of nuclear weapons in South Korea and Japan.

North Korea "is completely within the range of U.S. nuclear attack and the Korean peninsula is becoming an area where the chances of a nuclear war are the highest in the world," the Tongil Sinbo commentary said.

Kim Yong-kyu, a spokesman at the U.S. military command in Seoul, called the latest accusation "baseless," saying Washington has no nuclear bombs in South Korea. U.S. tactical nuclear weapons were removed from South Korea in 1991 as part of arms reductions following the Cold War.

On Saturday, North Korea's Foreign Ministry threatened war on any country that dared to stop its ships on the high seas under the new sanctions approved by the U.N. Security Council on Friday as punishment for the North's latest nuclear test.

It is not clear if the statements are simply rhetorical. Still, they are a huge setback for international attempts to rein in North Korea's nuclear ambitions following its second nuclear test on May 25. It first tested a nuclear device in 2006.

In its Saturday's statement, North Korea said it has been enriching uranium to provide fuel for its light-water reactor. It was the first public acknowledgment the North is running a uranium enrichment program in addition to its known plutonium-based program. The two radioactive materials are key ingredients in making atomic bombs.

On Sunday, Yonhap news agency reported South Korea and the U.S. have mobilized spy satellites, reconnaissance aircraft and human intelligence networks to obtain evidence that the North has been running a uranium enrichment program.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said it cannot confirm the report. The National Intelligence Service - South Korea's main spy agency - was not available for comment.

North Korea said more than one-third of 8,000 spent fuel rods in its possession has been reprocessed and all the plutonium extracted would be used to make atomic bombs. The country could harvest 13-18 pounds (6-8 kilograms) of plutonium - enough to make at least one nuclear bomb - if all the rods are reprocessed.

In addition, North Korea is believed to have enough plutonium for at least half a dozen atomic bombs.

North Korea says its nuclear program is a deterrent against the U.S., which it routinely accuses of plotting to topple its regime. Washington, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, has repeatedly said it has no such intention.

The new U.N. sanctions are aimed at depriving the North of the financing used to build its rogue nuclear program. The resolution also authorized searches of North Korean ships suspected of transporting illicit ballistic missile and nuclear materials.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the new U.N. penalties provide the necessary tools to help check North Korea's continued pursuit of nuclear weapons.

The sanctions show that "North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons and the capacity to deliver those weapons through missiles is not going to be accepted by the neighbors as well as the greater international community," Clinton said Saturday at a news conference in Canada.

The United Nations Security Council sent a clear and united message on June 12, 2009, when they voted unanimously to tighten sanctions on North Korea following the nation’s recent nuclear test and missile firings. The detonation on May 25 of the suspected nuclear device violated the 1953 armistice.

U.N. Resolution 1874 includes a number of measures aimed at stopping North Korea’s nuclear proliferation, including tougher inspections of cargo, an expanded arms embargo, and new financial restrictions on North Korea, curbing loans and money transfers that serve as funding for their nuclear program.

The vote on Resolution 1874, United States Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo said that North Korea chose a path of provocation, and now they must face the consequences. "United States welcomes the strong and united response to North Korea’s nuclear test, and is committed to implementing the provisions outlined by the Security Council" said United States Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo.

Sources:

Yahoo.com

The White House

Reported by catch4all.com, Sandra Englund