By Kim Yon-se, Michael Ha
Korea Times Correspondent, Staff Reporter
CAMP DAVID ― President Lee Myung-bak spoke of the enduring alliance between the two allies at a joint press conference with U.S. President George W. Bush Saturday. Lee said they had wide-ranging discussions during their summit with a free trade agreement (FTA) and the North Korean denuclearization process topping their agenda.
The two leaders appeared together at the presidential retreat in Maryland.
On the North Korean issue, Lee emphasized that South Korea and the United States ``do not harbor any hostile intent toward North Korea.''
Lee made it clear that Seoul and Washington will resolve the issue only through dialogue. ``We agreed to work together closely within six-party talks so that North Korea can fully and completely give up all their nuclear weapons programs as soon as possible.''
Lee noted that Bush agreed with his view with regard to North Korea, saying that Bush ``supported our policy.''
As for the U.S. forces stationed in Korea, the two sides agreed to ``maintain current troop levels.''
Another top issue the two leaders discussed was the Korea-U.S. FTA, which is facing some opposition by lawmakers from both countries.
Lee said the two will work toward a speedy passage of the free trade deal, possibly by the year's end.
He smoothed the way for the U.S. Congress to pass the FTA during his trip, by lifting the ban of U.S. beef imports to South Korea.
``Both President Bush and I agreed that the passage of the FTA will benefit not only our two economies, but also act as a catalyst to substantially improve exchange and cooperation in all areas between our two countries,'' Lee said.
``And so we agreed to work closely together for the speedy ratification of the FTA. President Bush agreed to work very closely and to convince the U.S. Congress to pass the FTA by the end of this year. I would like to thank him for that,'' he said.
Lee said the two sides also discussed a number of ways to foster closer ties between the two countries, including implementing the U.S. Visa Waiver Program by the year's end.
``There were a lot of difficulties for Koreans to visit the United States; most of all the difficulty they faced was due to the difficulty in getting visas to enter the United States,'' Lee said.
However, Korea signed a memorandum of understanding to take part in the visa waiver program, and we agreed to implement this by the end of this year, he said.
``Once that happens, our cultural exchanges as well as our economic exchange and the exchange in many areas will expand, and I have high hopes for that,'' the Korean President said.
Lee also said Bush agreed to his invitation to visit Seoul this summer. ``I invited President Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush to visit Korea this summer. I'm pleased to note that President Bush agreed and readily accepted to visit Korea with Mrs. Bush.''
On the South Korea-U.S. relationship, Lee observed, ``The Korea-U.S. alliance was pivotal in ensuring peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula, and also that of Northeast Asia.''
``In order to effectively respond to the need for change, President Bush and I agreed to develop our alliance into an alliance based on freedom and democracy, human rights and the principle of market economy… something that will contribute to global peace and security as well.''