President's call for dialogue with N. Korea sparks mixed reactions

SEOUL, Aug. 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's political parties offered mixed
reactions to President Lee Myung-bak's proposal Saturday to establish high-level
dialogue with North Korea, with the opposition calling it a repeat of his earlier
stance that was dismissed by Pyongyang as an insult.

In a speech marking the 64th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese
colonial rule, the South Korean president said his government was willing to
establish high-level dialogue with the communist state if it agrees to first give
up all its nuclear ambitions.
Lee also said his country would work to convince the international community to
remove ongoing sanctions against Pyongyang and help develop the North's moribund
economy if the country agrees to denuclearize.
The ongoing sanctions were imposed in June by the U.N. Security Council to
retaliate North Korea's second atomic test conducted May 25.
The ruling Grand National Party (GNP) welcomed Lee's proposal, also calling on
North Korea to end its isolation.
"Right now, when our government is actively engaging North Korea, is the best
time for North Korea to start changing," GNP spokesman Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun told
reporters.
The main opposition Democratic Party, however, dismissed the proposal as
diplomatic rhetoric, noting the president's offer failed to address the most
important issue -- North Korean demands to honor inter-Korean agreements signed
by South Korea's former liberal governments.
"We welcome the proposal to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and reduce
conventional weapons, but his failure to express his willingness to implement the
declarations of June 15 and Oct. 4 again showed his limits," party spokesman Rep.
Noh Young-min said, referring to joint statements issued following inter-Korean
summits in 2000 and 2007.
The splinter Liberty Forward Party (LFP) said Saturday's proposal was only a
repeat of the president's so-called "Denuclearization, Openness, 3000"
initiative, under which Lee had repeatedly promised to help develop North Korea
into a country whose per capita income exceeds US$3,000 if the communist state
completely abandons all its nuclear programs.
"It is not an offer that can be carried out and we cannot find any firm
determination to do so in his speech," LFP spokeswoman Rep. Park Sun-young said.
Pyongyang has rejected Lee's Openness 3000 initiative as an insult and has
described it as a "criminal" campaign against its communist regime.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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