President Ready to Meet NK Leader This Year
By Lee Tae-hoon
Staff Reporter
President Lee Myung-Bak has reiterated his willingness to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il at anytime for direct talks, should the communist state's nuclear programs be included in the agenda of the summit.
``I am always ready to have talks with Chairman Kim Jong-il,'' Lee said in an interview with the BBC, according to Cheong Wa Dae Friday. ``The only precondition is that we engage in fruitful dialogue and hold enough discussions on the North Korean nuclear issue.''
The interview took place Thursday in Davos, Switzerland, where he attended the two-day World Economic Forum, the presidential office said.
``The two sides must approach the situation with an open mind and with the aim of promoting reconciliation and cooperation,'' Lee said. ``If the talks can help promote peace and solve the North's nuclear issue, there is no reason that I can't meet him, even within this year.''
However, political analysts here expressed skepticism over the possibility of an early inter-Korean summit.
They said Lee's remarks were a reiteration of his basic position that a summit is possible, but only when certain conditions ― which Pyongyang is reluctant to accept ― are met.
Lee previously said in November that he was ready to meet Kim to resolve the nuclear standoff on the Korean Peninsula and address other thorny issues.
``I have no political reason to hold an inter-Korean summit, but I can meet Kim at anytime if it will help convince the North to abandon its nuclear programs and resolve humanitarian issues,'' Lee said.
Kim held summits with President Kim Dae-jung in 2000 and President Roh Moo-hyun in 2007.
The presidential office also discounted media speculation over an early summit.
``The South Korean government's stance remains firm,'' said spokesman Lee Dong-kwan. ``No meeting will be held for the sake of a meeting and no talks will take place for the sake of political and tactical purposes.''
President Lee also commented on the recent military provocation by the North. Pyongyang heightened tension on the divided peninsula by firing artillery for the third consecutive day Friday near its disputed sea border with the South.
``The recent military provocation could be a tactic to delay its return to six-party talks on dismantling its nuclear programs, or to sign a peace treaty to end the Korean War,'' Lee said.
Pyongyang has called for negotiations on a peace treaty with ``the concerned parties'' to replace the Armistice Agreement that halted the 1950-53 Korean War.
Seoul has yet to formally respond to the proposal, suspecting that it might be an attempt to water down the denuclearization agenda of the six-party talks involving the United States, the two Koreas, China, Russia and Japan. The North pulled out of the multilateral talks in April last year,
President Lee also told the BBC that the North does not face imminent collapse.
``Kim Jong-il has somewhat recovered from poor health and the country's long-standing economic difficulties will not trigger an immediate breakdown,'' Lee said.