S. Korea will talk to North but maintains hard line

[February 09, 2009]  SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Monday that he is ready for dialogue with North Korea, though he vowed not to veer from the hard-line principles that have angered the communist state and strained ties over the past year.

Tension between the divided Koreas has intensified in recent weeks, with Pyongyang announcing it would scrap peace agreements with Seoul, warning of a war on the peninsula and reportedly preparing to test a missile capable of reaching the western United States.

"I am well aware of the fact there are some people who are uneasy about North Korea's recent series of threats," Lee said in a regular radio speech. "However, my fellow citizens, we don't have to worry about that too much."

Lee reiterated that his government is ready to sit down "anytime" with North Korea for talks to reduce tension, though added he will stick to his basic policy and not be too hasty to achieve results.

"I believe what is particularly important in South-North ties is unwavering, unequivocal principles," said Lee, who has periodically called for dialogue, including in his inauguration speech last year when he said he was willing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

However, Lee has said Seoul should not offer unconditional aid to its impoverished, nuclear-armed neighbor as his liberal predecessors did. In response, Pyongyang cut off all ties last year, halted cooperation on key joint projects and vilified Lee as "human scum."

Last week, South Korean and Japanese media reports said the North was moving a suspected long-range missile to its launch site, saying a test would follow in one to two months. Analysts said the North was trying to attract President Barack Obama's attention as he formulates his North Korea policy.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is scheduled to visit South Korea next week as part of her Asian trip. North Korea's nuclear threat is expected to be a key topic during her visits to the South, Japan, and China -- the three nations that, along with the U.S. and Russia, are pressing the North to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

The nuclear talks have been stalled for months over how to verify the country's past nuclear activities.

Separately, Gen. Walter L. Sharp, the top U.S. military commander in South Korea, told reporters Monday that North Korea should put its efforts into dismantling its nuclear programs in a verifiable manner rather than focusing on ballistic missiles.

"We call on North Korea to stop provocations and act like a responsible country," Sharp said.

He added that U.S. and South Korean forces "are prepared for any contingency and any instability" such as a humanitarian disaster, a civil war and potential loose nuclear weapons in North Korea.

As Sharp spoke, North Korea accused the United States of plotting an attack, citing a recent air drill north of Seoul.

"The U.S. imperialists' preparatory moves for launching a new war only compel the people of (North Korea) to ... bolster a powerful deterrent capable of coping with them," the North's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

The U.S., which stations 28,500 troops in South Korea, has consistently said it has no intention of attacking the North. Kim Yong-kyu, a spokesman at the U.S. command in Seoul, said Monday that the training North Korea referred to was a routine exercise.

Fears of political instability in the North deepened last year when its reclusive leader Kim reportedly suffered a stroke and had brain surgery. The North, however, has called such speculation a smear campaign on its leader, churning out media reports and photos depicting him as healthy and active.

The North's state media reported that Kim, who turns 67 on Feb. 16, met a visiting senior Chinese envoy last month in what appeared to be his first face-to-face meeting with a foreign dignitary since his reported stroke in August.

[Associated Press; By HYUNG-JIN KIM]

Associated Press writer ShinWoo Kang contributed to this report.

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