Lee, Hatoyama agree to work on N. Korea's denuclearization, bilateral ties

By Byun Duk-kun
NEW YORK, Sept. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Japanese
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama reaffirmed Wednesday the necessity of maintaining
current international penalties on North Korea while urging the communist state
to return to talks on its denuclearization.

"The two leaders agreed on the need to resume the six-party talks to resolve the
North Korean nuclear issue and to continue implementing U.N. Security Council
sanctions," said Seoul's presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae.
The meeting was preceded by Lee's meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao
earlier Wednesday, also held on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
China is the host of the six-nation talks that also involve the United States and
Russia. The U.N. sanctions were imposed shortly after the North conducted its
second atomic test in May, despite its 2005 agreement at the six-party talks to
dismantle its nuclear programs.
In recent remarks, Lee cast doubt on what appeared to be conciliatory gestures
from Pyongyang, demanding unequivocal actions by the North to show its sincere
commitment to giving up its nuclear ambitions. He said the warming gestures may
be a result of international sanctions having their effect on the North Korean
regime.
On Monday, the South Korean leader proposed a "grand bargain" to irreversibly
dismantle North Korea's nuclear programs in exchange for a full set of benefits,
rather than seeking phased solutions.
The meeting with Hatoyama marked the first summit between Lee and the Japanese
leader, who came into office earlier this month after his Democratic Party of
Japan overturned the half-century rule of the Liberal Democratic Party in general
elections.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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