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   07-08-2009 18:37 여성 음성 남성 음성
NK Used Seoul’s Aid to Build Nukes


President Lee Myung-bak
By Na Jeong-ju
Korea Times Correspondent

WARSAW ― President Lee Myung-bak said Tuesday he suspects that North Korea used economic aid from South Korea to build up its nuclear capability during a decade of liberal governments.

He also called North Korean leader Kim Jong-il the leader of ``the world's most closed society,'' saying it was the most difficult country in the world to understand.

Lee made the scathing remarks during an interview with broadcaster euronews after he arrived in the Polish capital of Warsaw as part of a three-nation European trip.

``It is certain that North Korea is one of the most dangerous countries in the world,'' Lee said. ``If the North spreads weapons of mass destruction and nuclear materials, the number of countries the world will have to monitor will increase.''

Lee said he has had to take a hard-line stance on the communist country because the money Seoul provided to Pyongyang under his liberal predecessors might have been used to develop nuclear technology.

``We want North Korea to talk with the international community. The purpose of the sanctions the United Nations has imposed on Pyongyang is to push it to come to the negotiating table,'' the conservative leader said.

Rep. Park Jie-won of the main opposition Democratic Party, who served as a point man on North Korea during former President Kim Dae-jung's administration, harshly criticized Lee.

``The economic aid given under former Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun was mostly rice and fertilizer. The North received humanitarian aid not only from South Korea but also from the United States and the United Nations,'' Park said in a press release. ``President Lee is trying to make an excuse to avoid criticism for deadlocked inter-Korean relations.''

The Lee administration suspended inter-Korean economic cooperation projects and a tour to the North, which had been a major source of hard currency for the reclusive nation. Lee has said South Korea will resume economic aid on the condition that North Korea abandons its nuclear ambitions.

jj@koreatimes.co.kr





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