By Lee Tae-hoon
Staff Reporter
U.S. President Barack Obama reportedly proposed the idea of South Korea hosting the next Nuclear Security Summit in 2012 to President Lee Myung-bak during a telephone conversation on April 1.
Trust between the two leaders played an important role in the request, a Cheong Wa Dae official said Tuesday.
The U.S. President made the call to express his condolences over the tragic sinking of a warship in the West Sea on March 26 and give Lee a heads-up on the latest U.S. Nuclear Posture Review released last week.
During their talks, Obama started making unexpected remarks, stressing the need to hold the security summit on a biannual basis in order to review the denuclearization policies of participating countries, sources said.
He suggested Korea as the host of the next summit and Lee answered he would positively review it.
The sources said Obama has been mulling over whether to hold the top-level security meeting on a regular basis, adding that the request emphasizes his push for a world without nuclear weapons - a vision he presented in April last year.
Cheong Wa Dae officials said he began hinting at Korea as host from last year.
They said Obama made up his mind after hearing a positive response from Lee during the telephone consersation.
Since then, Obama personally asked to countries which had expressed a willingness to host the summit to support Korea, according to the sources.
"President Obama's proposal appears to have been made in consideration that the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula will be a good starting point for making a world without nuclear weapons," an official of the presidential office said. "However, it should also be noted that the trust and friendship between the two heads of the states played a pivotal role."