(2nd LD) Lee, Hatoyama call for one-step denuclearization of N. Korea

(ATTN: COMBINES with previous story slugged Korea-Japan summit; UPDATES with
additional remarks at press conference, minor edits on quotes)
By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, Oct. 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Japanese Prime
Minister Yukio Hatoyama agreed Friday to seek a "comprehensive" solution to
ending North Korea's nuclear development through a package deal.

"We agreed on the need for a fundamental and comprehensive solution to the North
Korean nuclear issue that will not lead to the negotiation tactics of the past,
and we agreed to work closely together on a way to resolve the issue in a single
step," Lee said in a joint press conference after his summit with the Japanese
prime minister.
The idea of a singe-step solution was proposed last month by the South Korean
president, who urged an end to North Korea's "salami tactic" of dividing its
denuclearization process into a multitude of bargaining chips and demanding
incentives for each of them.
Hatoyama said Lee's proposal for a "grand bargain" was a "very accurate, correct"
approach to denuclearizing the North.
"We must find out North Korea's true intentions by pursuing a complete and
comprehensive solution to North Korea's nuclear, as well as its ballistic missile
programs. Unless North Korea shows willingness to give them up, we must not
provide economic assistance," the Japanese premier told the press conference.
The Lee-Hatoyama summit came just days after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il told
China's visiting Premier Wen Jiabao that his country may rejoin six-nation
denuclearization talks, depending on the outcome of bilateral negotiations with
the United States.
President Lee said he was convinced the North will eventually come back to the
negotiating table, but stressed that Seoul and Tokyo should continue to
faithfully implement U.N.-imposed sanctions on the North until the communist
state does so.
"Prime Minister Hatoyama and I reached an agreement that for the resolution of
the North Korean nuclear issue, a change of North Korea's attitude was necessary.
To this end, we agreed to work for the North's return to the negotiating table
while fully implementing the U.N. Security Council sanctions," Lee said.
The North quit the six-party talks, also attended by South Korea, the U.S.,
China, Russia and Japan, in April following U.N. condemnation of its long-range
rocket launch. The U.N. sanctions were imposed after the communist nation
conducted its second atomic test in May.
Lee and Hatoyama were set to head to Beijing later Friday for a three-way summit
with the Chinese prime minister, who was expected to brief them on the outcome of
his trip to Pyongyang earlier this week.
Friday's talks also addressed improving bilateral ties, an issue around which
optimism has grown with the inauguration of Hatoyama last month.
The Japanese prime minister said his visit to Seoul, his first overseas trip for
a bilateral summit since taking office, was a proof of his wish to bring the
countries closer together than ever.
"I have always said we must actively and positively look straight in the face of
history. This is becoming an important belief within the new government," he
said.
Seoul-Tokyo relations have often been strained under Japan's former conservative
leaders, who were less apologetic about Japan's colonial rule of Korea from
1910-45 and its invasion of other Asian nations, including China, during the
Pacific War and World War II.
The new Japanese leader expressed personal wish to give suffrage to Korean
residents in Japan, mostly descendants of Koreans who were forced to move to
Japan as laborers during colonial years.
But he asked that he be given more time to resolve suffrage as well as other
history issues.
"In Japan-Korea relations, the emotions of the people can run ahead (of the
issues), and we must constrain it," said Hatoyama. "It takes time to gain
people's understanding."
On Lee's suggestion that Japanese Emperor Akihito visit Seoul next year, the
prime minister was cautious in responding.
"There is the question of how much the prime minister can intervene on the
matter" Hatoyama said. "I cannot comment further, but I do appreciate that
President Lee has made the suggestion."
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)