Presidential office denies hard-line stance against N. Korea

By Yoo Cheong-mo
SEOUL, Nov. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, on Monday denied any intention to pursue a hard-line policy toward North Korea.

"The government of President Lee Myung-bak remains unchanged in its stance toward
North Korea. Basically, we pursue co-existence and co-prosperity with the North,"
presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan told reporters, dismissing some media
reports that the president is shifting to hard-line hostility against the
communist state.
"The ultimate goal of the Lee government's North Korea policy is to make North
Korea a regular member of international society and enhance the level of freedom
and peace enjoyed by the North Korean people."
Lee was elected president last December on a campaign pledge to denuclearize
North Korea and open and elevate the North Korean economy to the level of $3,000
in per capita income. But the inauguration of the conservative Lee in February
has led to the suspension of inter-Korean dialogue.
The presidential spokesman's remark came after a vernacular newspaper quoted
President Lee as complaining about North Korea's repeated harsh rhetoric against
him during a meeting with his senior security policy advisers on Oct. 18.
North Korea has consistently denounced the South Korean leader as a "traitor" or
"U.S. sycophant" in its official comments since his February inauguration.
In its Monday edition, a Seoul newspaper quoted the president as instructing his
advisers to take stern counteraction against North Korea for repeatedly insulting
him in public. But Lee's spokesman denied the newspaper report as groundless.
ycm@yna.co.kr
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