Lee, Obama say N. Korean threats will only be met by sanctions

(ATTN: UPDATES with additional remarks from Lee and Obama, more details)
WASHINGTON, June 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and U.S.
President Barack Obama strongly urged North Korea to immediately halt its
provocative actions, saying threats and belligerent behavior will only draw
serious consequences.

The leaders said a peaceful coexistence is still an option for the communist
North, but that it can only be obtained through peaceful negotiations.
"I want to be clear that there is another path available for North Korea. A path
that will lead to peace and prosperity," the U.S. president said in a joint press
conference with Lee shortly after their summit talks at the White House.
"That destination can only be reached through peaceful negotiation and
denuclearization," Obama said.
The South Korean president said North Korea must understand that "they will not
be able to gain compensation by creating crisis."
"President Obama and I urge the North Koreans to fully give up their nuclear
ambitions and become a responsible member of the international community," he
added. The South Korean head of state arrived here Monday on a three-day official
visit.
Tuesday's meeting between Lee and Obama came as Pyongyang is threatening to
reinforce its nuclear arsenal and continue with its provocative nuclear and
ballistic missile tests despite a U.N. Security Council resolution that condemned
its May 25 nuclear destination test and prohibited any future tests by the
communist state.
Obama said Seoul, Washington and the rest of the world will begin "serious
enforcement" of sanctions already placed on the North by U.N. Security Council
resolutions if Pyongyang continues to behave provocatively and in a belligerent
fashion.
"I want to emphasize something President Lee said, that there has been a pattern
in the past where North Korea behaves in a belligerent fashion and if it waits
long enough, it is rewarded. I think that is the pattern they have come to
expect. The message we are sending them is that we are going to break that
pattern," the U.S. president said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)