Seoul, Washington to Chart NK Plan

By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter

South Korea and the United States are expected to chart a unified plan today to deal with North Korea's nuclear threat, which will be unveiled after the White House meeting between President Lee Myung-bak and U.S. President Barack Obama today.

Even before the summit, Seoul and Washington had taken a hardened stance against North Korea.

Before his departure to Washington D.C. Monday, President Lee stressed that his administration will sternly deal with the North Korean issue, while U.S. Vice President Joe Biden underlined the importance of enforcing sanctions against the Stalinist state, Sunday.

``It is important that we make sure those sanctions stick and those sanctions prohibit them from exporting or importing weapons,'' he said. ``This is a matter of us now keeping the pressure on.''

In regard to North Korea's intentions, the Vice President said, ``God only knows'' what North Korea leader Kim Jong-il wants from the recent showdown.

``There's all kinds of discussions. Whether this is about succession, wanting his son to succeed him, whether or not he's looking for respect, whether or not he really wants a nuclear capability to threaten the region, we can't guess his motives.''

Before his departure for Washington for the summit with Obama, Lee instructed the Cabinet to deal with the North Korean issues resolutely and fairly, and take necessary measures.

Despite tensions on the peninsula, Unification Minister Hyun In-taek reiterated that the government will continue to develop a joint industrial site in the North in a stable way.

``We will hold on to the idea of developing the Gaeseong Industrial Complex,'' he said at a National Assembly committee session.

The third inter-Korean government talks under the Lee administration will be held in Gaeseong this Friday to discuss wage and rental issues of the industrial park and the release of a South Korean worker detained in the North for more than 70 days.

Last Saturday, Pyongyang vowed to weaponize uranium and plutonium after the U.N. Security Council adopted Resolution 1874 imposing an arms embargo and financial sanctions on it, and allowing searches of North Korean vessels on the high seas.

``The process of uranium enrichment will be commenced,'' North Korea's foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

It also conducted its second nuclear test and test-fired missiles in May, which heightened tensions in the international community as well as on the Korean Peninsula.

After arriving in Washington, President Lee held a series of meetings with key U.S. government officials, including U.S. Trade Representative Ronald Kirk, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

``The meetings offered opportunities for President Lee to listen to U.S. positions on various issues ahead of his summit with President Obama,'' a Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson said.

Lee and Obama will hold an Oval Office meeting at the White House Tuesday, followed by a nationally televised joint press conference from the Rose Garden.

The two leaders will adopt the ``joint vision for the ROK-U.S. alliance,'' which calls for building a broader bilateral partnership to cover social, political and economic areas as well as the security alliance.

The summit, the first official bilateral meeting since Obama took office in January, will mainly deal with ways of countering North Korea's military threat, according to officials of the two governments, as Pyongyang has ratcheted up tension on the Korean Peninsula through a second nuclear test and test-firings of short-range missiles. The North has also threatened to proceed with its secret uranium enrichment program and build more nuclear bombs.

Lee and Obama had talks in April on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting in London.

Ratification of the long-delayed free trade agreement between the two countries will also be a main topic, officials said.

After the summit, Lee is scheduled to meet with leaders of U.S. Congress and attend a dinner forum hosted by chief executive officers from the two countries.

On Wednesday, Lee is to give a special lecture at George Washington University, from which he will receive an honorary doctorate.

ksy@koreatimes.co.kr