(LEAD) Mood right for inter-Korean summit: presidential office

(ATTN: UPDATES with response to media report in last 5 paras)
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Feb. 1 (Yonhap) -- The political climate across the Korean Peninsula is
ripe for another inter-Korean summit, even if there are currently no concrete
moves being made in that direction, South Korea's presidential office said
Monday.

One thing remains clear, officials from the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae
noted, and that is that North Korea has begun to show a different attitude toward
Seoul as it seeks dialogue with the South.
"North Korea seems to be seeking to resolve its internal problems by normalizing
inter-Korean relations," Park Sun-kyoo, spokesman at Cheong Wa Dae, told
reporters. "The mood for progress (towards an inter-Korean summit) is ripening.
No concrete preparations, however, are currently underway."
Park stressed that Seoul believes the timing and conditions for such a summit are
less important than the content of the meeting.
He reiterated the government's position that if the summit is held, the nuclear
crisis and the issue of South Korean abductees and prisoners of war still in
North Korea should be addressed.
The possibility of a summit between President Lee Myung-bak and the North's
leader Kim Jong-il reemerged as a hot-button issue after Lee told the British
public broadcaster BBC that he is willing to meet Kim anytime and even this year.
The spokesman denied a news report that Cheong Wa Dae is waiting for the North's
response to a proposed summit in the first half of this year.
The Munhwa Ilbo, a Korean language evening newspaper, quoted an unidentified
senior Cheong Wa Dae official earlier Monday that the ball is now in the North
Korean court when it comes to the possibility of a summit before July and that
South Korea is awaiting its answer.
"The report is not true," Park said.
Presidential aides agree that this year, the third of Lee's five-year term, is
the right time for a summit but the Lee administration does not want a one-off
political event.
They said the summit, if held, should contribute to peace on the peninsula and
efforts to scrap the North's nuclear program.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)

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