【标准VOA】2008-04-17
S. Korean President Leaves For Summits Aimed At Better Ties With US, Japan (2/2)
The North tested its first nuclear weapon in 2006, an event some say was made easier by the relatively uncritical transfers of billions of dollars worth of aid and investment from the South.
President Lee - a conservative former corporate chairman - says the South will continue to help the North, but only if Pyongyang cooperates on getting rid of its nuclear weapons. He says South Korea will persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear program through ongoing six-nation diplomacy, and that the North must come to realize that ending its nuclear programs will be beneficial.
North Korea is now nearly five months overdue in providing a declaration of its nuclear activities that it promised to produce by the end of last year.
A recent U.S. - North Korea meeting in Singapore has fostered hope a breakthrough may be near. South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan says he hopes the negotiations can get back to a brisk pace.
He says South Korea believes the multinational nuclear diplomacy needs to resume by next month, and that the six nations should ideally sign a new phase of a disarmament agreement by August.
