Lee calls for inter-Korean talks on co-existence, arms reduction

By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, Aug. 15 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak called on North Korea Saturday
to begin talks on ways to reduce tension between the two Koreas, a reduction in
their conventional weapons and the dismantlement of Pyongyang's nuclear programs.

"I sincerely call on the North Korean government this time. Nuclear weapons do
not ensure North Korea's security, but only make its future more difficult," the
president said in a speech marking the country's liberation from Japan's
1910-1945 colonial rule.
"I wish to find ways through which North Korea can protect itself while attaining
co-prosperity for both the South and North Korea," he added.
The president also proposed establishing a high-level consultative body to work
for joint economic development in the two Koreas.
Lee said Seoul will make active efforts to support North Korea's failing economic
conditions if the communist nation decides to give up its nuclear weapons.
"We will actively seek an international program that will help develop North
Korea's economy and significantly improve the lives of North Korean people," he
said.
A number of various economic and political sanctions have been imposed on North
Korea by the U.N. Security Council to condemn the communist nation's second
atomic test conducted in May.
President Lee said his government will actively support establishing a new peace
initiative on the Korean Peninsula if the North decides to completely abandon its
nuclear weapons, a move that would replace the long-standing Korean armistice
with a permanent peace treaty.
The two Koreas technically remain at war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended only
with the armistice, not a peace treaty.
The president also said that the two Koreas must begin a dialogue on reduction of
conventional weapons, noting their arms race since the end of the 1950-53 Korean
War has prevented both sides from developing their economies to their fullest
potentials.
"If the South and North Korea reduce their arms and troops, they will be able to
save enormous amounts of money and this will also help them develop their
economies. Now is the time for the South and the North to meet and discuss such
issues," Lee said.
North Korea is said to have deployed nearly 70 percent of its 1.1 million armed
forces to within a few miles of the inter-Korean border, while massive amounts of
artillery there also pose a daily threat to nearly half of the 48 million people
living in the Seoul metropolitan area.
"I make it clear that our government is ready to discuss and work with North
Korea over any issue between the two Koreas at any time and at any level," he
said.
The president also sought to address domestic issues in his speech as he called
for efforts to reform the country's election system, a move that could require
amending the Constitution.
Lee said frequent elections were contributing to greater social costs while
outdated administrative or electoral districts were fueling regional divisions.
"Elections are the highlights of democracy. But our national resources are going
to waste due to excessively frequent elections," said the president. "We need
active discussions on ways to reduce the number of elections and to adjust
(electorates) more reasonably."
Noting sharply divergent political views were also adding to social divisions,
the president renewed his call for a centrist, practical initiative.
"Center is not a superficial compromise of the left and the right. It is the
spirit of the Constitution that has led Korea and is a way of further developing
the country while respecting the values of democracy and a free market economy,"
he said.
The president said a practical approach was the means to achieve such goals.
"There are people who say democracy is cold-hearted. But we are working to build
a warm democracy where the socially weak can also live happily," the president
said.
bdk@yna.co