When the United States and North Korea hold a historic summit on Tuesday, supporters of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung say it will be the culmination of a mission launched two decades ago by the Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Kim, who died in 2009, introduced the Sunshine Policy of engaging with the North in 1998. Although it was later branded a failure by critics, his aides and a son say the Singapore summit could make his dream a reality: lasting peace on the Korean peninsula.
"My father would be extremely delighted if they take steps to realize a permanent peace regime, an opportunity he missed by a hair's breadth," said Kim Hong-gul, his youngest son who currently heads the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, a coalition of about 200 civic groups working on inter-Korean peace.