|
Seoul: South Korea's president-elect said on Monday he would meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Il at any time to improve relations and persuade the North to give up its nuclear weapons programmes.
Lee Myung-bak, who will be inaugurated on February 25, said he hoped a summit would take place in South Korea because the two previous summits between the Koreas in 2000 and 2007 were held in the North Korean capital.
Conservative
"If the summit between the leaders of South and North Korea will be a help in persuading the North to give up its nuclear programs and improve South-North Korean relations, I can meet him anytime," Lee said at a news conference in Seoul.
Lee, a conservative former Seoul mayor, won last month's presidential election to end a decade of liberal rule in South Korea. He is considered less hard-line towards the North than other conservatives in the South, but has called for more reciprocation from Pyongyang in return for Seoul's aid.
Lee also stressed the need to bolster ties with the US, saying this will help develop relations between the two Koreas.
The administration of current liberal President Roh Moo-hyun has had awkward relations with Washington, with the sides differing most notably on Seoul's policy of engagement with North Korea.
"Strengthened ties between South Korea and the US will be a help to North Korea," Lee said. The two Koreas have improved ties since their leaders met for their first-ever summit in 2000, and the South is now North Korea's No. 2 trade partner after China.
|
