ID :
85099
Mon, 10/19/2009 - 14:35
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/85099
The shortlink copeid
Seoul says 'misunderstanding' to blame for U.S. comment on N. Korea summit proposal
By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, Oct. 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Sunday dismissed a U.S. official's
comment that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has invited South Korean President
Lee Myung-bak to a summit in Pyongyang, saying there was an apparent
"misunderstanding."
In a briefing to reporters on U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates' trip to Asia,
a Pentagon official said the North Korean leader was seeking a summit with his
South Korean counterpart.
An official at Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said there appears to
have been a misunderstanding on the U.S. part of what Seoul has briefed
Washington about Lee's recent meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
In a trilateral summit that also involved Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama,
Wen said the North was hoping to improve its ties with South Korea and Japan.
Wen made a high-profile trip to Pyongyang earlier this month for a meeting with
the North Korean leader, who also told Wen that his country may rejoin
international dialogue on ending its nuclear ambitions depending on the outcome
of bilateral talks with the U.S.
The Cheong Wa Dae official said that at the summit between Lee and Wen, an
inter-Korean summit was only mentioned in the context that it could be possible
if the South-North relationship improves.
"We briefed the U.S. administration on the outcome of the summit (with China),
and I think there must have been some kind of misunderstanding on the U.S. side,"
the official in Seoul told reporters.
Lee Dong-kwan, top secretary to the South Korean president on public relations,
said what was important was not whether there had been in an invitation from the
North Korean leader, but whether such a meeting will lead to any actual progress.
"The president has repeatedly stressed that he will welcome a meeting with North
Korean leader Kim at any time, but that such a meeting will be meaningless unless
they are both sincerely willing to make progress," he said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, Oct. 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Sunday dismissed a U.S. official's
comment that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has invited South Korean President
Lee Myung-bak to a summit in Pyongyang, saying there was an apparent
"misunderstanding."
In a briefing to reporters on U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates' trip to Asia,
a Pentagon official said the North Korean leader was seeking a summit with his
South Korean counterpart.
An official at Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said there appears to
have been a misunderstanding on the U.S. part of what Seoul has briefed
Washington about Lee's recent meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
In a trilateral summit that also involved Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama,
Wen said the North was hoping to improve its ties with South Korea and Japan.
Wen made a high-profile trip to Pyongyang earlier this month for a meeting with
the North Korean leader, who also told Wen that his country may rejoin
international dialogue on ending its nuclear ambitions depending on the outcome
of bilateral talks with the U.S.
The Cheong Wa Dae official said that at the summit between Lee and Wen, an
inter-Korean summit was only mentioned in the context that it could be possible
if the South-North relationship improves.
"We briefed the U.S. administration on the outcome of the summit (with China),
and I think there must have been some kind of misunderstanding on the U.S. side,"
the official in Seoul told reporters.
Lee Dong-kwan, top secretary to the South Korean president on public relations,
said what was important was not whether there had been in an invitation from the
North Korean leader, but whether such a meeting will lead to any actual progress.
"The president has repeatedly stressed that he will welcome a meeting with North
Korean leader Kim at any time, but that such a meeting will be meaningless unless
they are both sincerely willing to make progress," he said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
