President Lee calls for detailed N. Korea policy

By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, April 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak Wednesday called
for "thorough" and "detailed" plans to deal with North Korea as the international
community searches for ways to respond to the North's long-range rocket launch.
Pyongyang launched a rocket Sunday in what it claimed was part of its space
program to put a communications satellite into orbit. Seoul and its closest ally
Washington believe the claim was intended to disguise a long-range missile test.
"We need a thorough and detailed strategy for our North Korea policy. I hope
today's discussions will provide the basis for concrete plans," the president
said while meeting with his advisers on security and North Korea-related affairs.
Inter-Korean relations have hit a new low since Lee came into office some 13
months ago. The two Koreas are technically still at war after the 1950-53 Korean
War ended without a peace treaty.
Seoul's incumbent government has repeatedly rejected calls to directly engage
North Korea since its inauguration, saying it will talk to the communist nation
only when there is a sincere desire on the part of the North for serious
dialogue.
Pyongyang has since cut off all communication channels with Seoul and has
described Lee's campaign pledge of increasing North Korea's per capita income to
US$3,000 in exchange for its complete and verifiable denuclearization as an
"insult."
Lee also said that China, North Korea's closest ally, agrees with his North Korea
policy, referring to his meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao on the
sidelines of the G-20 economic summit in London last week, according to his
spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye.
"The United States, too, showed its close cooperation with us by sharing all its
intelligence on the North's rocket launch on April 5 almost as soon as it
obtained the information," Lee was quoted as telling his advisers.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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