Jimmy Carter... the worst president ever. Maybe the second worst. The votes aren't all in yet...
on Thursday urged the West not to interfere over human rights
...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions...
in North Korea and immediately resume food aid to the renegade nation. Carter was in Seoul as part of a group of ex- leaders calling themselves the "Elders" that included former Irish President Mary Robinson and former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari who were winding up a three-day visit to North Korea.
Carter, 86, who was not travelling on behalf of the U.S. government, had been invited to North Korea for discussions with senior political and military officials as a way to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula, which he said were ''at rock bottom."
He travelled with two other former presidents, Mary Robinson of Ireland and Martti Ahtisaari of Finland, and former prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland of Norway. All four are members of the Elders, an independent group of world leaders established by Nelson Mandela.
Ms Robinson echoed Carter's concerns about what she called the "very serious crisis" over food supplies in North Korea because of a harsh winter, severe flooding and an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. She said the withdrawal of U.S. and South Korean food shipments had aggravated a dire situation, which had become "a matter of life-and-death urgency."
Ms Brundtland cited a lack of running water in hospitals, even in maternity and pediatric wards, and a deep shortage of what she called "essential medicines." A third of all North Korean children were stunted because of malnourishment, she said.
Carter said North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho came to the guest house, where he took a sheet of paper from an envelope and read to them what he said was a written message from Kim.
"He specifically told us that he is prepared for a summit meeting directly with President Lee Myung-bak at any time to discuss any subject directly between the two heads of state," Carter said.
Kim Jong-il "sent word that he and the people of North Korea are willing to negotiate with South Korea or the United States or (the other powers involved in six-party nuclear disarmament talks) on any subject, at any time and without any preconditions," he added.
Asked if he mentioned human rights to North Korean officials, Carter said he believes there are some human rights concerns about the North Korean regime's policies but that they cannot be changed by outsiders.
He said that one of the most important human rights is "to have food to eat and for South Korea and Americans, and others to deliberately withhold food aid for North Korean people... is indeed a human rights violation." Critics in South Korea were stunned that Carter appeared to ignore the Kim Jong-il regime's responsibility for egregious violation of human rights including the operation of concentration camps, public executions and torture but accused Seoul of violating North Korean rights.