South Korea and Japan yesterday called for a “fundamental change” in North Korea’s attitude in order to end the nuclear standoff and said sanctions should stay in force until then.
“Leaders of the two countries agreed that a fundamental change in North Korea’s attitude is required to solve the North Korea nuclear issue,” South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said after talks with Japan’s new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
The two will join Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) in Beijing today for a three-way summit expected to be dominated by the North’s nuclear ambitions.
PHOTO: AFP
After their own summit yesterday, Lee and Hatoyama agreed the time is not right to ease pressure on Pyongyang despite its conditional offer this week to return to disarmament negotiations.
Lee said they agreed to continue diplomatic efforts to bring North Korea back to the six-party negotiations soon, while “faithfully implementing” fresh UN sanctions imposed in June after the North’s second atomic test.
“Through cooperation by Japan and South Korea and also through cooperation with the United States and China, it is important to get it [North Korea] back to the table of the six-way talks as early as possible,” Hatoyama said.
On Monday North Korean leader Kim Jong-il told Wen in Pyongyang that his country was ready to return to the talks it abandoned in April — but only if it is first granted direct negotiations with the US.
Lee said he expected Pyongyang to return to the multilateral negotiations following talks with the US. But he restated his call for a “grand bargain” rather than the step-by-step negotiations of recent years. Hatoyama gave full backing to this approach.
Lee proposes offering his neighbor massive aid and diplomatic and security guarantees in return for a firm commitment to total denuclearization.
“We agreed on the need for a fundamental and comprehensive solution to the North Korean nuclear issue that will not lead to the negotiation tactics of the past,” Lee told a joint press conference.
To solve the issue in a single step, he said:
“We agreed to maintain close consultations with participants in six-party negotiations,” he said.
The grand bargain policy is “extremely correct,” Hatoyama said.
“We should not provide economic aid unless the North signals a specific action or willingness comprehensively to [end] nuclear and missile development,” the Japanese leader said.
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