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November 07, 2009
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| President Lee Myung-bak reiterated his position yesterday that he has no intention to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il just for the mere sake of having an inter-Korean summit. In a breakfast meeting with foreign affairs and security advisers, Lee discussed the country’s pending diplomatic issues including the planned summit with U.S. President Barack Obama later this month. Korea’s hosting of the Group of 20 summit next year and Lee’s visit to Singapore next week to attend the APEC summit were also discussed, Lee Dong-kwan, Blue House senior public affairs secretary, said in a press release. “The advisers said they have seen reports about a possible inter-Korean summit, and suggested to Lee that North Korea’s nuclear arms programs and human rights situation must be included on the agenda if a summit takes place,” the spokesman said. “I’ve repeatedly said that there won’t be an inter-Korean summit just for the show of it,” the president was quoted as saying. “It has been my consistent belief that I will not attend a summit that lacks a real purpose.” Media reports speculated last month that the two Koreas had a secret contact in Singapore to arrange a possible summit between Lee and Kim, although the Blue House refused to discuss the matter. The Lee administration has said in the past that an inter-Korean summit can only be possible when Pyongyang agrees to give up its nuclear arms programs. At the National Assembly, the ruling and opposition lawmakers grilled senior Lee administration officials about the suspected secret contact to arrange a summit. Lawmakers criticized the government for poorly handling the secret contacts and demanded the matter proceed transparently. “Unless an inter-Korean summit is pushed forward based on a national consensus, the country will be split and it will be impossible to implement a stable North Korea policy,” said Representative Gu Sang-chan of the Grand National Party. He urged the government to openly arrange a summit rather than using secret contacts. South Korea’s past two liberal presidents traveled to Pyongyang in 2000 and 2007 to meet with Kim. The North Korean leader promised to visit South Korea in return, but hasn’t done so. “If the summit takes place, it’s Kim’s turn to visit Seoul to meet with Lee,” Gu said. “Taking into consideration the prickly situation, I can see the necessity of having secret contacts to arrange an inter-Korean summit, but the problem is that the secret was not kept,” said Democratic Party Representative Moon Hak-jin. “Secret contact is against the Lee administration’s slogan of transparent inter-Korean dialogue. From now on, Seoul must press for a summit openly through official channels or by sending a special envoy.” Prime Minister Chung Un-chan told lawmakers that he has no information about the secret contact between the two Koreas, adding that he also believes the matter should be handled transparently. By Ser Myo-ja [myoja@joongang.co.kr] |
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