Lee, Hu Agree to Speed Up NK Denuclearization

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao Saturday agreed to cooperate to speed up the ongoing process of denuclearizing North Korea through six-party talks, according to Lee's aides in Seoul.

At their summit in Beijing Saturday morning, the two leaders also reached an agreement to map out detailed action plans aimed at upgrading their cooperative ties during Hu's visit to South Korea scheduled for late August.

During his May visit to Beijing, Lee agreed with the Chinese president to upgrade Seoul-Beijing relations from the previous "comprehensive cooperative partnership" to a "strategic cooperative partnership."

The upgraded bilateral relationship calls for a significant boost in exchanges along with cooperation in diplomacy, security, economy, social issues and culture.

Lee thanked Hu for helping the six-party talks on denuclearizing North Korea make progress and called for continued joint efforts to force the North to fully abandon its nuclear weapons and programs, the aides said.

In response, Hu stressed that the settlement of North Korean nuclear problem would contribute to global peace, while inter-Korean reconciliation and dialogue would help promote regional peace, they said.

Lee also congratulated Hu on the successful opening of the Beijing Olympics and recounted his impressions at Friday's opening ceremony, saying, "The opening ceremony was very Chinese, scientific and large-scale. I felt very proud as an Asian watching the successful Olympic opening ceremony." "The weather was also helpful. Heaven must have helped China for doing its best to prepare for the Olympics," Lee was quoted as saying.

However, the two leaders didn't discuss North Korea's refusal to cooperate in the probe into the July 11 shooting death of a South Korean tourist in North Korea.

"The Lee-Hu talks lasted just 20 minutes but it was very meaningful in further strengthening bilateral relations and trust," a Cheong Wa Dae spokesman said.

The South Korean president was in Beijing for the Olympics which opened on Friday.

Diplomats here believe that China may not want to get involved in the shooting incident, apparently mindful of its traditional relationship with North Korea.

A South Korean woman was shot dead by a North Korean soldier on July 11 after straying into a military zone near a mountain resort on the North's east coast. The resort has been open to South Korean tourists since 1998.