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President Lee Myung-bak |
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
President Lee Myung-bak Friday reiterated his position that he will not pursue an unprincipled inter-Korean summit.
``As I said earlier, I won't pursue an unprincipled inter-Korean summit. I will not seek a meeting to save face. That's the bottom line,'' Lee said during a meeting with his foreign and security policy advisers at Cheong Wa Dae.
Media reports said that senior officials of the two Koreas met in Singapore and discussed the possibility of a third inter-Korean summit. Lee's office denied the claims.
The presidential office has said that an inter-Korean summit would only happen if Pyongyang first agrees to completely give up its nuclear ambitions.
Lee offered a ``grand bargain'' that calls on the North to abandon its nuclear programs in return for security, diplomatic and economic incentives.
``I explained the grand bargain concept as a package deal, and the U.S. side welcomed the proposal,'' Lee said.
``We have presented a broad principle and it is desirable that its details should be made concrete through consultations among member countries of the six-party talks.''
Earlier this week, the President stressed his principles of policy consistency toward North Korea.
``The government's policy on North Korea has been consistent. The administration is firm in its determination to form a future-oriented inter-Korean relationship on the basis of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the principles of co-prosperity and co-existence,'' Lee said in his address at the National Assembly, Monday, read by Prime Minister Chung Un-chan.
North Korea, which conducted a second nuclear test on May 25, announced Nov. 3 that it had completed reprocessing 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods in late August, an effort to backtrack denuclearization actions it pledged in 2007 and 2008.
The announcement came amid reports that Pyongyang and Washington would soon hold bilateral talks, in an apparent North Korean bid to position itself to seek more money, assistance and security guarantees from the United States and other countries involved in the six-way denuclearization framework.
gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr
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무디스, 스페인·伊·포르투갈 신용등급 강등
