President Lee Myung-bak said Wednesday China should deal with North Korean defectors in accordance with international norms, adding to growing pressure on Beijing not to return a group of detained refugees to their communist homeland.
"As long as defectors are not criminals, it would be right for China to deal with them in accordance with international standards," Lee said during a special news conference marking the fourth anniversary this week of his inauguration.
The remark came as calls mount for China not to repatriate about two dozen defectors arrested last week to North Korea, where it is feared they will face harsh persecution and even execution. It was the first time Lee has spoken publicly on the issue.
In the past, South Korea sought what is dubbed "quiet diplomacy" with China to settle such issues. In what is seen as a shift from that policy, officials in Seoul have been speaking out on the issue.
On Tuesday, the foreign ministry said Seoul plans to raise the issue at a United Nations meeting.
Lee also said South Korea is ready to talk with the North with an "open heart," if Pyongyang is also willing to talk in a sincere manner, stressing that inter-Korean dialogue must take place for the sake of peace and stability on the divided Korean Peninsula.
Lee added that Pyongyang faces a "good opportunity" to change its course, apparently referring to the country's leadership change in the wake of the December death of former leader Kim Jong-il. Kim's youngest son, Kim Jong-un, has succeeded his father as leader.
After Kim's death, there were hopes the unexpected event could serve as a chance to repair badly strained inter-Korean relations.
The North's new leadership has continued harsh rhetoric against Seoul, however, and vowed never to deal with the Lee administration.
Lee, in addition, accused Pyongyang of trying to incite internal division in South Korea in an attempt to influence major elections scheduled for this year, but said South Korean citizens are mature enough not to be swayed by such attempts.
The rest of Lee's conference was devoted to domestic issues, such as corruption scandals involving presidential aides and confidants, as well as the opposition party's about-face on major policies and projects it had pursued while in power, including a free trade agreement with the United States.
Lee said he is frustrated and "speechless" over the corruption scandals.
On allegations of irregularities in a now-scrapped project to build his retirement home on Seoul's southern outskirts, Lee said he failed to properly take care of the issue and asked for "understanding" from the public.
Lee also used the conference to criticize Han Myeong-sook, the leader of the main opposition Democratic United Party, and other leading opposition figures for changing their stances on the free trade deal with the U.S., as well as on a project to build a naval port on the southern island of Jeju and other issues.
Lee pledged not to seek policies that burden the next administration as he voiced concern about political parties going too far in trying to win voters with populist promises of high-priced welfare programs.
Opposition parties panned Lee's conference for lacking a sincere apology to bribery scandals involving his close aides and controversy surrounding his axed retirement home.
"The press conference was disappointing, falling far short of people's expectations," Rep. Lee Yong-sup, the chief policymaker of the main opposition Democratic United Party, said at a briefing. "Lee neither apologized nor expressed regret over the failed state of affairs and briberies involving his aides in the last four years, shifting responsibility to others." (Yonhap)