No 'price' for inter-Korean summit: Lee

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with comments by Lee's aides, U.S. stance, other details)
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Feb. 2 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak stressed Tuesday that his
government will never pay a "price" to the North in return for an inter-Korean
summit, countering a news report that South Korea may send fertilizer to the
impoverished communist neighbor ahead of the possible meeting.
Lee reiterated he is willing to meet the North's leader Kim Jong-il anytime but
"only under firm principles."
"(Such a summit) can't be realized unless those principles are met," he said at a
Cabinet meeting, according to his spokesman Park Sun-kyoo. "The leaders of South
and North Korea should meet under the principles that there will be no price for
a summit."
A major South Korean daily reported earlier in the day that South Korea may
resume shipments of fertilizer to the North prior to a summit. "Chances are high
that food can be channeled into the (North Korean) military but there will be no
such problem with fertilizer aid," the newspaper quoted an unidentified
government official as saying.
The comments were in reference to alleged practices by the North of allowing the
military to receive the lion's share of international food aid over the general
population.
Lee's liberal predecessors -- Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun -- came under harsh
criticism from conservatives in South Korea for reportedly delivering cash and
materials to the North as part of efforts to organize inter-Korean summits in
2000 and 2007.
Speculation has run rampant over the possibility of a third summit between the
two Koreas since the South Korean president said in an interview with British
broadcaster BBC last week that he is prepared to meet his northern counterpart
this year to foster peace on the peninsula and a resolution to the nuclear
crisis.
Lee's aides later said that his comments were a repeat of his basic stance and
that no concrete preparations are currently under way.
Lee earlier said that a summit with Kim, if held, should be used to discuss the
North's nuclear program and the issue of South Korean abductees and prisoners of
war still in the North.
The two sides held a high-level preliminary meeting in Singapore last year,
followed by several working-level contacts, but failed to narrow differences,
according to sources in Seoul. North Korea has claimed the nuclear standoff is a
matter to be discussed with the U.S., not South Korea.
South Korean officials agree that this year, the third of Lee's five-year term,
is right for such an inter-Korean summit but they say that whether a meeting
takes place depends on North's attitude. This year marks the 60th anniversary of
the outbreak of the Korean War that ended in a cease-fire in 1953.
"I wouldn't say that there is no move at all for an inter-Korean summit," a
senior presidential secretary said. "But as you well know, it is difficult to
predict the outcome of discussions with North Korea."
He said the Lee administration will push for dialogue with the North in a
transparent manner, unlike in the past, and will release related information to
the media if there is tangible progress.
The U.S., meanwhile, expressed support for another summit between the two Koreas
if such a meeting would help resolve the nuclear crisis.
"We have had our own discussions with North Korean officials," State Department
spokesman Philip Crowley said. "We understand our partners in the six-party
process likewise have had conversations, and we encourage dialogue."
lcd@yna.co.kr
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