THE head of South Korea's ruling party waltzed into a political firestorm today after newspaper pictures showed him dancing with North Korean waitresses on a trip across the border last week. Kim Geun-Tae's visit Friday was meant to be a public show of support for two joint business ventures between the North and the South that have been facing criticism since Pyongyang tested an atomic bomb earlier this month.
But South Koreans were treated to a different show when reporters snapped pictures of Mr Kim smiling and dancing with two North Korean waitresses at a lunch in the border city of Kaesong. The pictures have infuriated many in the South who were already angry that President Roh Moo-Hyun and his Uri party have refused to curb the two projects, which critics say are helping fund the North's nuclear weapons program.
Mr Roh's administration "embraces the North and dances to the tune of the North Koreans",' said a top official from the opposition Grand National Party. A GNP spokesman called on Mr Kim to resign.
Now Mr Kim's colleagues are trying to two-step through the controversy. "It is not desirable to launch undue political attacks for lunchtime happenings,'' one MP said. Another said it was a "natural custom'' to dance at North Korean banquets and that Mr Kim at first refused many times.
One paper said Mr Kim was hustled to his seat by an aide after cameras in the room began flashing.
| "[hiss] You idiot! Siddown and shaddup!" |
The two projects, the Kaesong industrial complex and Mount Kumgang tourist site, have provided North Korea with nearly a billion dollars in hard currency since 1998. The government says it will not suspend them despite international sanctions on the North for testing a nuclear weapon on October 9. |