S. Korean president to seek solution on N. Korea with Japan, China

(ATTN: UPDATES with additional remarks, more details)
By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, Oct. 8 (Yonhap) -- North Korea will likely top the agenda during South
Korean President Lee Myung-bak's talks with Japanese and Chinese prime ministers
this week as he seeks to win their support for a package deal for the
denuclearization of the North, an official at Seoul's presidential office Cheong
Wa Dae said Thursday.
Lee is set to hold a bilateral summit with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
here on Friday. The two will head to Beijing after their meeting for a three-way
summit with Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao on Saturday.
Wen had been in Pyongyang earlier this week and met directly with North Korea's
top leader Kim Jong-il.
"On the political side, the leaders will review the relationship between South
Korea and Japan and discuss ways to further develop their ties," the official
said of the Lee-Hatoyama summit.
"Because the meeting comes after Prime Minister Wen's trip to North Korea, they
are also expected to discuss ways to resume the six-nation talks," the official
added.
North Korea quit the six-way denuclearization talks in April following U.N.
condemnation of its long-range rocket launch, but Kim was quoted as telling Wen
that his country may rejoin the negotiations depending on the outcome of
bilateral talks with the U.S.
The nuclear negotiations are attended by South and North Korea, the United
States, Japan, China and Russia.
Lee is also set to hold a bilateral meeting with the Chinese prime minister on
Saturday.
The South Korean president has proposed a "grand bargain" in settling the North
Korean nuclear issue in one single step instead of in phases, meant to end the
cycle in which the communist regime agrees to denuclearization steps only to
return to provocations.
"Details of the proposal are not something to be discussed between the leaders.
However, the president may explain his ideas and also hear from Prime Minister
Wen about his meeting with the North Korean leader because there clearly is a
difference between directly hearing from a person and reading from a document,"
the Cheong Wa Dae official told reporters, asking not to be identified.
Lee is also expected to seek support from Japan and China for South Korea's
hosting of the G-20 economic summit next year.
"Cooperation for the G-20 summit to be held in South Korea, as well as other
issues of regional cooperation such as climate change, are also subjects of
discussion," the official said.
The Lee-Hatoyama meeting will mark their second summit since the Japanese premier
came into office last month. Their first summit was held during the U.N. General
Assembly in New York last month.
"The meeting will be an opportunity to establish trust and a new friendly
relationship between South Korea and Japan as the new Hatoyama government was
only recently inaugurated," the official said.
The Saturday meeting between South Korea, Japan and China will mark the 10-year
anniversary of the three-way dialogue that began on the sidelines of a regional
forum, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
To mark the 10th anniversary, the countries are working to issue a joint
statement at the end of Saturday's summit, along with a joint document on
economic cooperation and sustainable growth, the official said.
"During the past 10 years, the importance of all three nations in the
international community grew significantly while their combined gross domestic
product (GDP) now accounts for one-sixth of world GDP," he said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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