By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
President Lee Myung-bak said Tuesday that there would be no financial incentives for North Korea in exchange for a summit with its leader Kim Jong-il.
"An inter-Korean summit should be held under firm principles, and would be impossible unless requirements have been met. The leaders of the two Koreas should meet without any financial considerations. That is a prerequisite," Lee said during a Cabinet meeting.
"We will never change that principle. And I believe it will be beneficial to both Seoul and Pyongyang in the long term."
The remark is his latest of many concerning a possible summit.
Lee said last week that he may meet with Kim but that it would only be possible after the North shows visible action first to resolve the nuclear issue.
Lee's aides have denied reports that the two Koreas have held secret talks and come close to setting a date and place for a summit, but there have been many indications showing inter-Korean talks have been underway to discuss a possible meeting.
Analysts say an early summit is unlikely considering Lee's hard-line stance toward Pyongyang over its nuclear program and the communist country's policy of talking only with the United States.
Lee's remarks are a clear message to North Korean leader Kim that he is different from his past two liberal predecessors ― Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun ― who offered economic aid in return for meeting him in the North Korean capital in 2000 and 2007, respectively.
The late President Kim won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 for his engagement of North Korea, but his close aides underwent an investigation years later for the so-called cash-for-summit deal, and the CEO of Hyundai Asan, who was developing a joint tourism complex in North Korea, committed suicide allegedly from the pressure of the investigation.
"President Lee is saying that he won't make such mistakes," a Cheong Wa Dae spokesman said. "There are also claims that North Korea used aid from the South to build up its nuclear capabilities. The President remains firm that there will be no unconditional aid to the North except for humanitarian assistance."
The spokesman refused to confirm whether the North had demanded cash or other financial incentives in order to hold a summit.
jj@koreatimes.co.kr
