By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter
Former President Kim Dae-jung, who won the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize for the first-ever inter-Korean summit, is receiving calls to act as a special envoy to break the deadlock with the North.

The ruling Uri Party, in particular, is calling on the Nobel laureate to take a ``bigger role’’ in the peace and reconciliation process on the divided peninsula ahead of the April general elections.

This move comes as the Roh Moo-hyun administration and the Uri Party have been trying to grab an opportunity to mend their estranged relationship with the ex-president since last year’s division of the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP).

Sources in the ruling camp said concrete plans for Kim’s role have already been discussed to a certain degree. One of the two methods currently talked about is to send the former president, who held the historic meeting with his Northern counterpart Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang in 2000, to the North again as a special emissary.

Rep. Kim Geun-tae, floor leader of the Uri Party, made public such a proposal on Tuesday.

In an article posted on his Internet homepage, he said he hoped the veteran national leader would act as a special envoy of the Roh administration to the North.

``How glad the nation would be if Mr. Kim, a man of great wisdom and wide experience, were to work to help bring peace to the peninsula,’’ he wrote.

But, at a time when the longstanding nuclear crisis is hindering significant steps for peace efforts, some opt for another method: using him as an ambassador to the four other nations participating in the six-way talks _ the United States, China, Japan and Russia.

Lee Bu-young, another Uri Party lawmaker running for party chairmanship, said Kim could take a role in either strategy.

Kim, who celebrated his 80th birthday on Tuesday, has recently been reiterating the importance of the development of inter-Korean relations.

``I will lend unsparing effort as far as inter-Korean affairs are concerned,’’ Kim stressed while meeting with aides on New Year’s Day. He also spoke highly of the Roh government’s North Korean policy in line with his prized ``sunshine’’ policy for peace and reconciliation with the reclusive communist neighbor.

Despite his cautious attitude towards the world of domestic politics after his retirement as head of state in February last year, Kim has seen his political stock rising as rival political camps have tried to borrow his influence ahead of the April polls.

jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr