SOUTH KOREAN president Lee Myung-bak has held out the possibility of fresh nuclear talks with North Korea, but he has warned Pyongyang that Seoul would respond sternly to provocations.
“The situation on the Korean peninsula is now entering a new turning point,” Mr Lee said in a televised address yesterday, “but there should be a new opportunity amid changes and uncertainty. If North Korea comes forward with a sincere attitude, it will be possible for us to work together to open a new era.”
Since the installation of Kim Jong-il’s son, Kim Jong-un, as leader in the North, there have been various provocative comments made against Mr Lee’s administration, including threats of a “sea of fire” and a “roar of revenge”.
The North also urged its citizens to rally around Kim Jong-un and become his “human shields”.
North-South relations have been at their lowest ebb in decades following the 2010 sinking of a South Korean warship that killed 46 sailors and North Korea’s deadly shelling of a front-line island later that year. The Korean peninsula remains technically still at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, but not a formal peace treaty.
Mr Lee vowed that South Korea would react firmly if there were any further provocations. “If any aggression occurs, we will respond with strength,” he said.
North Korea has accused Mr Lee of attempting to undermine the North by placing his troops on high alert after Kim Jong-il’s death.
Pyongyang responded bitterly after Mr Lee took office in 2008 and said any aid to the North had to be linked to an agreement by Pyongyang to get rid of its nuclear weapons programme. North Korea has tested two atomic devices since 2006.
The generally aggressive line against Mr Lee has shown no sign of softening under the new leadership and the country’s powerful National Defence Commission has said it would never deal with him.
There have been indications by the North that it is willing to return to six-party talks, which also include Japan, the US and China, but both Washington and Seoul want more evidence that the North is prepared to meet existing commitments on disarmament.
Mr Lee said in his speech that if North Korea halts its nuclear activities, negotiations could pick up again. “We are ready to resolve security concerns on the Korean peninsula and provide assistance to revive North Korea’s economy through agreements in the six-nation talks,” he said.