An opposition lawmaker who visited North Korea says the North appears to have a strong will for resuming inter-Korean dialogue.
 
Rep. Park Jie-won of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy made the remark at a news conference on Tuesday after returning from his trip to the North. Earlier in the day, Park had visited Gaeseong to deliver a wreath from former First Lady Lee Hee-ho commemorating the third anniversary of the death of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. 
 
Following his trip, Park said he got the impression that the North has a strong will for dialogue. He cited remarks by Won Dong-yon, vice chairman of the North's Asia-Pacific Committee.
 
He said Won expressed regret that inter-Korean talks failed to take place over an unexpected event just three days after a high-level North Korean delegation visited the South in October, appearing to refer to South Korean civic groups that sent anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.
 
According to Park, Won also said that inter-Korean trust can be restored when incidents such as distributing anti-North leaflets no longer take place. 
 
Park added that Won conveyed thanks from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for the wreath from the former first lady, asking her to visit Pyongyang any time at her convenience.
 
He said the two sides agreed to later discuss arranging Lee's visit to the North around May.
 
Apart from Park and the officials of the Kim Dae-jung Peace Center, a group of eight Hyundai Asan officials, including the company’s president, Cho Kun-shik, also visited the North's border city of Gaeseong on Tuesday and delivered a wreath for the anniversary.