 Lee Ju-young |
Staff Reporter
The chief policymaker of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) Tuesday urged the government to faithfully follow the principles of ``three dos and three don'ts'' in the inter-Korean summit to take place from Aug. 28 to 30.
Rep. Lee Ju-young emphasized that President Roh Moo-hyun should seek ways of dismantling North Korean nuclear weapons completely, working toward relieving emotional pains of families whose relatives are left in the North, and rebuilding mutual trust in security.
He said Roh should not seek the reunification plans which lack public support, redefine the Northern Limit Line (NLL) and pledge further economic assistance to the North.
``The meaning of the South-North summit is more than important in every aspect. Accordingly, the President should make every effort to pull together meaningful and fruitful outcomes through the talk,'' Lee said.
Na Kyung-won, a spokeswoman of the GNP, said the government has failed to take the initiative in the summit talk negotiations from the beginning.
``The government should defend national security to the end in the summit. No negotiations should be made at the expense of the security issue,'' she said.
Lee said members of an in-house task force team produced the key principles after holding meetings. The team was created on Aug. 9 to craft the party's effective responses to the inter-Korean summit talk. The team, led by Lee, is composed of 13 lawmakers of the party.
A handful of outside North Korea experts joined the team to assist their activities.
After the announcement on the summit talk, presidential hopefuls and party leaders of the GNP expressed concern over the possible effect of the summit talk on the presidential election.
The GNP leaders raised suspicion of the timing of the talk, which comes four months before the December's election. They accused Roh of being behind the politically motivated event.
They urged the government not to attempt to play the North Korea card in favor of the nominee of the liberal camp in the campaign.
hkang@koreatimes.co.kr
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