South Korea’s president says he is willing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-il this year to discuss the North’s nuclear weapons program despite a recent flare-up in border tensions.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak made the comment as North Korea fired artillery shells for a third day on Friday in what it said were military exercises near its disputed western sea border with South Korea.
The shellings, which on Wednesday prompted return artillery fire by the South, caused no reported casualties or damage. They came amid mixed signs from the communist North, which has recently appeared more eager to engage the South in dialogue after ballistic missile and nuclear tests last year drew UN sanctions, while still threatening its rival.
The presidential office said yesterday that it is unclear whether summit talks can be held soon, but that Lee said he “could probably meet [Kim] within this year” if it promotes peace on the Korean peninsula and North Korea’s nuclear disarmament.
Lee’s two liberal predecessors held talks with Kim Jong-il in 2000 and 2007. Lee has taken a tougher approach toward North Korea since taking office in 2008, worsening bilateral relations, but has indicated several times he is willing to meet Kim.
His comments came as North Korea fired about 20 artillery rounds into its western waters, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
The North has designated two no-sail zones in the area, including some South Korean-held waters, through March 29.
The western sea border has been a constant source of tension between the two Koreas. Their navies fought a skirmish in November that left one North Korean sailor dead and three others wounded, and engaged in bloodier battles in the area in 1999 and 2002.
In Washington, US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg said in a speech on Friday that the US and its negotiating partners will enforce tough sanctions on North Korea until it returns to stalled nuclear disarmament talks.
If North Korea continues to conduct nuclear and missile tests and threaten its neighbors, “it will continue to suffer the consequences,” Steinberg said.
North Korea has bargained with its neighbors and the US for more than a decade about giving up its nuclear program, gaining energy and aid concessions and then backing away from its agreements.
North Korea argues that it was compelled to develop nuclear weapons to cope with a military threat from the US, which has approximately 28,500 troops in South Korea.
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