S. Korean president ends China trip after talks on N. Korea

By Byun Duk-kun
BEIJING, Oct. 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak headed home
Saturday after a two-day trip here that provided a chance to promote his proposal
for a "grand bargain" on North Korea's denuclearization to the leaders of China
and Japan at a trilateral summit.
The proposal, dubbed the "great exchange" by China, calls for a one-step
denuclearization of the North in exchange for massive incentives.
"Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said he highly evaluates Korea's efforts to
denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and resume the six-party talks and said China
will also actively take part in discussions on President Lee's proposal for a
single-step denuclearization of North Korea," Lee's spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye said.
The trilateral talks also involved Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who,
after a bilateral summit with Lee in Seoul on Friday, said the proposal was a
"correct way" to dismantle the North's nuclear programs.
Following the three-way summit, Lee and Wen held a bilateral meeting to further
discuss joint efforts to resume the six-nation nuclear talks stalled since April
due to a boycott by Pyongyang.
Wen made a high-profile visit earlier this week to the North Korean capital,
where he was told by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il that the North may rejoin
the nuclear talks, depending on the outcome of bilateral negotiations with the
U.S.
The nuclear talks are attended by South and North Korea, the United States,
Japan, China and Russia.
In a joint press conference that followed the three-way summit, Lee urged the
countries to seize the opportunity created by the rare flexibility from the North
and quickly come up with a package of incentives for his proposed grand bargain.
"Now is a good time for North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions, and there
will be good results if we can offer a proposal for a one-step solution of the
nuclear issue and conditions for such a deal," he told the press conference.
The leaders' commitment to denuclearize the North through dialogue was put into
an official statement issued at the end of their talks.
"We will make joint efforts with other parties for an early resumption of the
Six-Party Talks, so as to safeguard peace and stability in Northeast Asia," the
statement said.
The South Korean president also sought to deepen his country's economic and
diplomatic relations with China and Japan, proposing the establishment of a
"cyber secretariat" for cooperation, according to his spokeswoman.
On the sidelines of the bilateral talks between Lee and Wen, the countries signed
an agreement on economic cooperation that calls for doubling their annual
bilateral trade to US$300 billion by 2015.
The three countries agreed to continue their cooperation in international forums,
including the G-20 economic summit to be held in South Korea next year, to fight
the global economic crisis and promote their mutual interests.
"At the end of their summit, the leaders noted it was a meaningful meeting where
they were able to make significant progress for cooperation on the
denuclearization of North Korea, the economic crisis and climate change,"
spokeswoman Kim said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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