While he was complicit in 1997, a month before his death he told a different story about the DVD version:

Is it satisfying that Empire has been changed the least of the original trilogy with the 1997 Special Editions and DVD release?

When the film was released in 1997 and later put into DVD, I was very gratified that it was almost unchanged, except the sound was much improved, whereas Star Wars and Jedi had big changes.

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2010/10/irvin-kershner