"Earlier this month, we asked the North Korean party to participate in next year’s ICAPP during the inter-Korean festival marking the 60th anniversary of liberation from Japanese colonial rule," said Rep. Kim Myung-ja, who serves as chairwoman of the party’s organizing committee for the biennial event.
She added that the party would send an official invitation letter to the North’s party, expressing optimistic views that the North would accept the invitation, as the North Korean party sent its delegation to the third ICAPP held in Beijing last year.
The North has two minor political parties - the Korean Social Democratic Party and the Chondoist Chongu Party. But the two are legally required to accept the leadership of the Workers’ Party, following the united front principle common in communist nations.
With about one year to go before the opening of the international event, officials of the organizing committee held its first meeting on Tuesday, discussing details on how to prepare the event.
The Uri Party expects over 600 representatives of 90 political parties from 35 Asian countries will take part in the four-day event.
The conference will be held under the theme of "Peace and Prosperity in Asia" at the Lotte Hotel in central Seoul from Sept. 7-10. The agenda will include the inter-Korean talks and six-nation negotiations on the North Korean nuclear issue and the peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula.
"Our ultimate goal is to form an alliance of Asian political parties which is similar to that of the European Union member countries," said Rep. Chung Eui-yong of the ruling party. "We hope certain domestic and international conflicts in Asia, such as the dispute in Nepal, can be solved through cooperative relationships among Asian political parties, not just relying on governments."
The Uri Party was chosen as the host party of next year’s conference by the ICAPP standing committee, which was chaired by Philippine House of Representatives Speaker Jose De Venecia, Jr. during its meeting in Seoul last May. De Venecia founded the ICAPP in Manila in 2000.
(Korea Times, August 23, 2005)
