(2nd LD) Lee says S. Korea will put forth its voice on N. Korea, other global issues

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead paras; UPDATES with additional remarks, more details)
By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak on Wednesday said his country
will assume greater leadership in resolving global issues, including on North
Korea and the ongoing global economic crisis, at the upcoming G-20 summit to be
held here next year.
Lee said the country's hosting of the G-20 economic summit in November 2010 is an
opportunity to elevate Korea's status in the international community.
"We are now facing a historic turning point. We must take the opportunity to
upgrade the country's status and advance with the rest of the world by
successfully hosting the G-20 summit," the president said in a special press
conference on the outcome of his recent participation at the third G-20 economic
summit in Pittsburgh.
The president said the country's hosting of the summit, designated at the
Pittsburgh meeting as the "premier forum" for international economic cooperation,
proved the country's already heightened position in the international community.
"We have now become a country that sets the frame and format of the world from a
country that was content with passive roles within the framework of international
orders set by others," the president said in a nationally televised press
conference.
South Korea will take on global issues, including the prolonged North Korean
nuclear crisis, and put forth its unique voice, he said.
"We are now at a time when we should start offering our own visions and solutions
for not only inter-Korean issues but global issues," he said, adding his recent
proposal for a "grand bargain" with North Korea on its nuclear program was a part
of such efforts.
The deal, proposed during Lee's trip to the United Nations last week, calls for a
complete denuclearization of North Korea in a single step in exchange for a wide
range of incentives, including security guarantees for the North's communist
regime.
The proposal raised alarms here over a possible discord with Seoul's closest
ally, the United States, as U.S. assistant secretary of state, Kurt Campbell,
suggested Washington may prefer incremental steps rather than a single leap to
denuclearize the communist North.
Lee on Wednesday dismissed those concerns, stressing that the proposal was
discussed in advanced with U.S. President Barack Obama.
But it did not necessarily matter what officials in the U.S had said, the
president emphasized. "We can still voice our own opinion. We must try and
persuade others and not just listen to what they say," he said.
The president, however, noted great opportunities comes with great responsibilities.
"As our international status rises, our responsibility and duty to the
international community also grows. It is only appropriate that we contribute
more to the international community as a country standing at its center," he
said.
Seoul has already vowed to triple its official development aid for developing
countries by 2015 and is annually sending over 3,000 volunteers overseas, the
second largest number of volunteers in the world following that of the United
States.
"The Republic of Korea is facing an upturn of its fortunes. The chance to become
a leader in the world has come," Lee said.
"Let us turn our hosting of the G-20 summit next year into a chance to clearly
upgrade the status of our nation not only in the economic sector, but also in the
legal, ethical, political and cultural areas."
bdk@yna.co.kr
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