South Korea's president renewed his offer of aid for impoverished North Korea if it abandons its nuclear weapons and called today for talks on the reduction of conventional weapons along their heavily fortified border.
In a nationally televised speech, President Lee Myung-bak said he wanted a "candid dialogue" with North Korea about dismantling its atomic programs so the communist nation can prosper economically.
"Nuclear weapons will not guarantee its security but rather make its future more difficult," Lee said in his speech marking the 64th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule.
For years, South Korea had been one of Pyongyang's biggest benefactors, but since taking office early last year, Lee's pro-US, conservative government suspended unconditional aid to the impoverished North as part of a new hard-line approach. The North responded by cutting most ties and curtailing key joint projects.
It was unclear if Seoul's proposed aid offer - which still has strings attached - would prod North Korea to back down from its promise to restart its nuclear program. Lee has made similar aid offers in the past, but the North has rejected them.
Lee also offered talks on reducing conventional arms and troops along the demilitarized zone, a 2.5-mile-wide buffer bisecting the Korean peninsula.
"How can we talk about sincere reconciliation and cooperation while pointing guns at each other?" Lee said. "We can move toward genuine peace only when we reduce the number of weapons and troops and redeploy them to the rear."
The rival Koreas are still technically at war, since their 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. The countries have hundreds of thousands of combat-ready troops and heavy artillery along the 155-mile-long border.
Lee's speech came days after Pyongyang freed a South Korean worker detained in the North for months for allegedly denouncing the communist country's political system. It also followed the North's release of two jailed US journalists after former President Bill Clinton made a surprise trip to Pyongyang.
Some analysts suggested the two releases indicated the North was looking to strike a more conciliatory tone with Seoul and Washington after months of provocations, including pulling out of nuclear negotiations, vowing to restart its reactor, test-launching a barrage of missiles and conducting an atomic test. But they also said the South would have to respond in kind with a gesture of its own.
Lee appeared to take the opportunity today, but it was unclear if his offer would go far enough for the North. He said if Pyongyang moves toward denuclearization, his government will seek an international cooperative program to help ensure the North's economic development, establish a high-level inter-Korean economic meeting and push for a set of development projects for the North. He didn't provide details.
Meanwhile, Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jung-eun, who traveled to Pyongyang earlier this week to negotiate the release of the South Korean worker, a Hyundai employee, extended her stay for another day — the fourth time this week, according to Seoul's Unification Ministry.
In his liberation day speech, Lee also called for more national efforts to revive the economy, achieve a genuine democracy and overcome regional rivalry.
Hundreds of thousands of Koreans were forced into military service or sexual slavery for Japanese troops during the colonial rule from 1910-1945. Many Koreans still harbor strong resentment for the brutal colonization.
AP