Last week, an important dignitary from the Republic of Korea visited Federal Way.

Jae-Joung Lee, a Vice Prime Minister in the Korean government, is spending the month of November touring the United States in his role as senior vice president of the Advisory Council on Democratic and Peaceful Unification (ACDPU).

The ACDPU was founded in 1981 to mitigate the effects of the Korean War and the division of Korea into North and South. Its recent projects include video reunions between separated families in the two countries and development of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, a joint North-South industrial facility inside North Korea. Lee is here to gather input on unification from Americans and Koreans living in the United States.

Federal Way, with the second largest Korean and Korean-American population in the country after Los Angeles, was an important stop on Lee's tour.

Councilman Michael Park hosted Lee and gave him a tour of the city.

Besides being on the city council of Federal Way, Park is the president of ACDPU's Seattle Chapter, which includes the states of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. Park was born in South Korea and immigrated to the United States in 1977, residing in Federal Way for the past 27 years.

After visiting various businesses around Federal Way, Park brought Lee and South Korean Consul-General Jae-Gouk Kim to meet with Mayor Dean McColgan and other Federal Way council members at the council chambers in city hall.

As Park ushered Lee and his group into the chambers, the mayor, city manager David Moseley and assistant city manager Derek Matheson greeted them. As introductions were made, the two contingents politely exchanged business cards.

Sitting down around an oval table with a centerpiece of miniature Korean and American flags, McColgan, Moseley, council members Linda Kochmar and Jeanne Burbidge showed Lee and Kim a seven-minute video, narrated in Korean, about Federal Way.

"It really looks like a great place to live and work," commented Lee as the lights came back on.

Next the group related their connections to Korea. McColgan said his father had come from Korea, Kochmar described her 26-year old adopted Korean son, and Burbidge related how her husband had spent 18 months in Korea as a member of the U.S. armed services.

Once the formalities were finished, McColgan asked Lee to describe the purpose of his official visit.

Lee, who is also an Episcopalian priest, believes his dual roles as priest and politician are equally important to his mission of achieving a peaceful reunification between North and South Korea.

"I plan to see reunification occur within my lifetime," Lee said.

He spoke about the negative impact that the current administration's stance towards North Korea has had on the peoples of both Koreas. President Bush has named North Korea as one of the "axis of evil", along with Iraq and Iran. The Anglican Church in Korea seeks reconciliation and reunification between both countries.

"What is most important, at this time, is to encourage North Korea to abandon their nuclear arms program and to build up their economy," said Lee.

"In 2000, China did one million dollars worth of trade with North Korea, and in 2004 that number was 1.3 billion. We are very concerned about this. Instead of viewing North Korea as an evil enemy, we would like the United States to begin investing and trading with North Korea to build up a healthy economy. That is the only path to peace," Lee said.

As the discussion came to a close, the group exchanged gifts and McColgan presented Federal Way coffee mugs everyone in Lee's party. Consul-General Jae-Gouk Kim, who had remained silent throughout the meeting, finally spoke up. "Ah, for Starbucks!" smiled Kim, holding up his new mug, prompting much laughter in the chambers.