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Seoul: New South Korean President Lee Myung-bak rejected his communist neighbour's offer to meet in January, a news report said on Wednesday, after pledging a tougher policy in dealing with North Korea.
The proposal was made through South Korea's National Intelligence Service "for responsible officials from the two sides to meet," a newspaper quoted an unnamed government official as saying.
The official said, "But President Lee demanded clarification on the purpose of such a meeting, and the North subsequently suspended attempts to make contact," the official said.
Presidential Blue House officials could not immediately be reached for comment. The National Intelligence Service declined immediate comment.
Lee said frequently during his campaign for December's presidential election that he would be harder on North Korea than his predecessors if it continued to resist international pressure to dismantle its nuclear threat, but reward it handsomely if it complied.
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