By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
President Lee Myung-bak said Thursday he was optimistic that Japan’s parliament will soon pass a bill granting voting rights to ethnic Koreans there.
He made the remarks during a meeting with a group of elderly social leaders at Cheong Wa Dae.
The government has called on Tokyo to settle the issue of granting suffrage to ethnic Koreans in Japan this year.
Earlier this week, Tokyo said it will submit a bill to the Diet on suffrage for foreign residents.
As for the North Korean nuclear issue, President Lee said the “grand bargain” deal he proposed last year for an early resolution of the nuclear issue was not just an idea of his own, but the result of talks with the other countries involved in the sixnation denuclearization talks.
“Even Russia was active in talking over the proposal,” Lee said. “I believe the United States and North Korea discussed the idea when U.S. special envoy Stephen Bosworth visited Pyongyang in early December. The North may have keen interest in the offer.
“I believe the countries are realizing that the grand bargain is the only and best solution to the nuclear standoff.”
During his visit to Washington last September, Lee proposed the grand bargain deal with North Korea, which calls for the North to scrap its nuclear program in exchange for economic aid in a strict give-and-take manner.
Under the past package deal, the South and the other parties gave aid to North Korea without “receiving anything” from Pyongyang, he said.
Regarding concerns that his North Korea policy has led to uneasy relations with the communist country, Lee said the inter-Korean relations have gotten back on the right track.
“This year marks the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950. The meaning of this is that we should begin efforts to promote ‘normal’ inter-Korean ties and create an opportunity to improve the quality of life among the North Korean people.”
The conservative leader dropped a decade-old engagement policy following his inauguration in early 2008 and has said he will not strengthen inter- Korean exchanges unless the North gives up its nuclear program.
Lee said he would seek better ties with China.
“China has become the most important partner for Korea’s economic growth. Korea’s trade with China has surpassed a combined volume of its trade with the United States and Japan,” he said. “Better ties with China are crucial not only for our economy, but also for regional security.”