ID :
85994
Sat, 10/24/2009 - 22:05
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/85994
The shortlink copeid
Seoul says will not hold `meaningless` summit with N. Korea
By Byun Duk-kun
HUA HIN, Thailand, Oct. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is not considering or in
consultation with North Korea for a summit anytime soon and will not do so unless
assured that a meeting between their leaders would produce significant progress,
a senior official from Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Saturday.
"I stress again it is our government's unchanging stance that we will not hold an
inter-Korean summit that will simply end in a meeting of the leaders," Lee
Dong-kwan, top public relations secretary to South Korean President Lee
Myung-bak, told reporters.
The president has repeatedly said he and the government are open to any type of
dialogue with the communist North at any time, but that any serious talks can
only take place after the North expresses its willingness to completely give up
its nuclear ambitions.
Lee is currently on a trip to this beach resort town for a regional forum hosted
by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Speculations about an inter-Korean summit flared after a high-profile visit by
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to Pyongyang earlier this month where he was told by
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il that he wished to improve ties with Seoul.
South Korean broadcaster KBS reported Thursday that officials of the two Koreas
had met secretly in Singapore to discuss a possible summit.
A Cheong Wa Dae official earlier said he could neither confirm nor deny the
report. Other informed sources have said there would have to be more discussions
with the North about a potential summit, and that such a meeting of the two
leaders would be more likely to take place in the latter half of next year.
Lee Dong-kwan refused to comment directly on the KBS report, but said the
government will be as clear and open as possible about any inter-Korean summit
arrangements "when there comes a time of need for transparency."
"As we have already stated, we will not pursue a summit with any hidden political
agendas. A summit must be based on sincerity for the nation and must help the
process to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue," he told reporters here.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
HUA HIN, Thailand, Oct. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is not considering or in
consultation with North Korea for a summit anytime soon and will not do so unless
assured that a meeting between their leaders would produce significant progress,
a senior official from Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Saturday.
"I stress again it is our government's unchanging stance that we will not hold an
inter-Korean summit that will simply end in a meeting of the leaders," Lee
Dong-kwan, top public relations secretary to South Korean President Lee
Myung-bak, told reporters.
The president has repeatedly said he and the government are open to any type of
dialogue with the communist North at any time, but that any serious talks can
only take place after the North expresses its willingness to completely give up
its nuclear ambitions.
Lee is currently on a trip to this beach resort town for a regional forum hosted
by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Speculations about an inter-Korean summit flared after a high-profile visit by
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to Pyongyang earlier this month where he was told by
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il that he wished to improve ties with Seoul.
South Korean broadcaster KBS reported Thursday that officials of the two Koreas
had met secretly in Singapore to discuss a possible summit.
A Cheong Wa Dae official earlier said he could neither confirm nor deny the
report. Other informed sources have said there would have to be more discussions
with the North about a potential summit, and that such a meeting of the two
leaders would be more likely to take place in the latter half of next year.
Lee Dong-kwan refused to comment directly on the KBS report, but said the
government will be as clear and open as possible about any inter-Korean summit
arrangements "when there comes a time of need for transparency."
"As we have already stated, we will not pursue a summit with any hidden political
agendas. A summit must be based on sincerity for the nation and must help the
process to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue," he told reporters here.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
