ID :
49727
Tue, 03/10/2009 - 04:39
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/49727
The shortlink copeid
(LEAD) President Lee meets U.S. envoy on N. Korea
SEOUL, March 9 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak and the new U.S. point man on North Korea met on Monday and discussed a range of issues, officials said, just hours after the communist state unilaterally severed its last remaining communications line with the South.
The meeting between Lee, who returned one day ago from a trip to New Zealand,
Australia and Indonesia, and special U.S. envoy Stephen Bosworth followed a
special briefing for the president on security issues.
"President Lee and Bosworth exchanged their views on a wide range of issues that
concern both of their nations," an official at the presidential office said.
The Lee-Bosworth meeting came shortly after the U.S. envoy held talks with the
top presidential secretary for foreign affairs, Kim Sung-hwan.
"Kim and Bosworth discussed the North's missile activity and other issues," an
official said, asking not to be identified.
The official said Kim and Bosworth reached consensus on "most of the issues" they
discussed, including how to deal with the communist nation.
North Korea intensified tensions on the Korean Peninsula earlier Monday by
unilaterally cutting off a military communications channel with the South, the
only official contact window that remained open between the two sides.
Last week, Pyongyang said it could no longer guarantee the safety of South Korean
planes flying over its airspace, despite a 1997 accord that allowed dozens of
South Korean commercial and passenger jets to fly over daily.
Pyongyang is also suspected of preparing to test-launch a long-range missile,
despite repeated claims by the North that the preparations are for a satellite it
hopes to put into orbit. It warned on Monday that any attempts to intercept the
rocket will lead to war.
The content of Monday's security briefing was not immediately released.
An official at the presidential office said the briefing is a customary procedure
following the president's overseas trips.
"The president is briefed on new and current security issues every time he comes
back from a trip," the official said, asking not to be identified.
Still, the official acknowledged the post-trip security briefing was "different,"
as it involved all of his security-related officials, including the defense and
unification ministers, as well as the head of the National Intelligence Service.
The presidential office refused to directly comment on the North's latest
actions, but said Seoul's doors are always open to the North.
"As said many times before, we are always ready to help North Korea with
sincerity," Lee Dong-kwan, a spokesman for the presidential office, said in a
press briefing.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
The meeting between Lee, who returned one day ago from a trip to New Zealand,
Australia and Indonesia, and special U.S. envoy Stephen Bosworth followed a
special briefing for the president on security issues.
"President Lee and Bosworth exchanged their views on a wide range of issues that
concern both of their nations," an official at the presidential office said.
The Lee-Bosworth meeting came shortly after the U.S. envoy held talks with the
top presidential secretary for foreign affairs, Kim Sung-hwan.
"Kim and Bosworth discussed the North's missile activity and other issues," an
official said, asking not to be identified.
The official said Kim and Bosworth reached consensus on "most of the issues" they
discussed, including how to deal with the communist nation.
North Korea intensified tensions on the Korean Peninsula earlier Monday by
unilaterally cutting off a military communications channel with the South, the
only official contact window that remained open between the two sides.
Last week, Pyongyang said it could no longer guarantee the safety of South Korean
planes flying over its airspace, despite a 1997 accord that allowed dozens of
South Korean commercial and passenger jets to fly over daily.
Pyongyang is also suspected of preparing to test-launch a long-range missile,
despite repeated claims by the North that the preparations are for a satellite it
hopes to put into orbit. It warned on Monday that any attempts to intercept the
rocket will lead to war.
The content of Monday's security briefing was not immediately released.
An official at the presidential office said the briefing is a customary procedure
following the president's overseas trips.
"The president is briefed on new and current security issues every time he comes
back from a trip," the official said, asking not to be identified.
Still, the official acknowledged the post-trip security briefing was "different,"
as it involved all of his security-related officials, including the defense and
unification ministers, as well as the head of the National Intelligence Service.
The presidential office refused to directly comment on the North's latest
actions, but said Seoul's doors are always open to the North.
"As said many times before, we are always ready to help North Korea with
sincerity," Lee Dong-kwan, a spokesman for the presidential office, said in a
press briefing.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
