Obama, Lee pressure N. Korea
Source: Agencies |
November 20, 2009, Friday
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US President Barack Obama said he was willing to help North Korea repair its economy and end decades of international isolation if Pyongyang stopped a cycle of threats and finally moved toward nuclear disarmament.
Speaking to reporters at the end of his Asia tour, Obama said he and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak agreed North Korea must end a "pattern of provocations" that simply ended up with demands for more concessions but never resolved the central problem.
The two leaders also pledged to work to secure approval by their respective legislatures for their own free trade deal, signed more than two years ago.
Lee said he was ready to discuss the main issue holding up ratification -- opening up the auto market.
Obama said he wanted to iron out remaining issues with Lee on the trade pact and that the agreement could benefit US exporters. Asked if he thought the pact could be passed next year, he said: "The question is whether we can get it done in the beginning of 2010, whether we can get it done at the end of 2010. There's still some details that need to be worked out."
On the nuclear issue, he said: "Our message is clear. If North Korea is prepared to take concrete and irreversible steps to fulfil its obligations and eliminate its nuclear weapons program, the United States will support economic assistance and help promote its full integration into the community of nations."
He and Lee have piled pressure on North Korea by targeting its finances and telling Pyongyang it will win massive rewards if it abandons its atomic ambitions.
Obama said he would send his first envoy to Pyongyang on December 8 to press North Korea to return to talks, frozen for almost a year, with regional powers to give up building a nuclear arsenal.
Lee said he held out hopes for a deal with the neighbor under which it would end its decades-long ambitions to build a nuclear arsenal.
"I hope that by accepting our proposal, North Korea will secure safety for itself, improve the quality of life for its people and open the path to a new future," Lee said.
Obama also spoke to some of the 28,000 US troops stationed in South Korea. North Korea argues it is those troops that force it to develop nuclear weapons as protection from attack.
"The US imperialist aggressor forces' presence in South Korea and their daily intensifying moves for a war of aggression against (North Korea) are the main factor of disturbing peace and security on the Korean Peninsula," North Korea's official Rodong Sinmun daily said.
Speaking to reporters at the end of his Asia tour, Obama said he and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak agreed North Korea must end a "pattern of provocations" that simply ended up with demands for more concessions but never resolved the central problem.
The two leaders also pledged to work to secure approval by their respective legislatures for their own free trade deal, signed more than two years ago.
Lee said he was ready to discuss the main issue holding up ratification -- opening up the auto market.
Obama said he wanted to iron out remaining issues with Lee on the trade pact and that the agreement could benefit US exporters. Asked if he thought the pact could be passed next year, he said: "The question is whether we can get it done in the beginning of 2010, whether we can get it done at the end of 2010. There's still some details that need to be worked out."
On the nuclear issue, he said: "Our message is clear. If North Korea is prepared to take concrete and irreversible steps to fulfil its obligations and eliminate its nuclear weapons program, the United States will support economic assistance and help promote its full integration into the community of nations."
He and Lee have piled pressure on North Korea by targeting its finances and telling Pyongyang it will win massive rewards if it abandons its atomic ambitions.
Obama said he would send his first envoy to Pyongyang on December 8 to press North Korea to return to talks, frozen for almost a year, with regional powers to give up building a nuclear arsenal.
Lee said he held out hopes for a deal with the neighbor under which it would end its decades-long ambitions to build a nuclear arsenal.
"I hope that by accepting our proposal, North Korea will secure safety for itself, improve the quality of life for its people and open the path to a new future," Lee said.
Obama also spoke to some of the 28,000 US troops stationed in South Korea. North Korea argues it is those troops that force it to develop nuclear weapons as protection from attack.
"The US imperialist aggressor forces' presence in South Korea and their daily intensifying moves for a war of aggression against (North Korea) are the main factor of disturbing peace and security on the Korean Peninsula," North Korea's official Rodong Sinmun daily said.
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