S.Korea's Lee calls for new strategic bond with U.S.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - South Korean President Lee Myung-bak called on Tuesday for a new strategic alliance with Washington but said North Korea should be talked peacefully out of its nuclear program without its political system being threatened.
Starting a visit to the United States, his first foreign trip since his inauguration in February, Lee sought to dismiss concerns he said had arisen in recent years about a weakening of U.S.-South Korean relations.
"I assure you that we should and we will move forward," he told a Korea Society dinner in New York. "The politicization of alliance relations shall be behind us," said the president, whose liberal predecessor Roh Moo-hyun had swept to power on a wave of anti-Americanism.
Lee called on Seoul and Washington to work out a "common strategy for peace and prosperity" for the Korean Peninsula and elsewhere that he dubbed a "Korea-U.S. Strategic Alliance," embracing military, political, economic and cultural ties.
"Under the military alliance built on mutual trust, the two countries will join forces to alleviate tensions on the Korean Peninsula and to promote peace in Northeast Asia," Lee said.
The United States has about 28,000 troops stationed in South Korea to help it defend against invasion by the communist North, which in past weeks has threatened to reduce the South to ashes and unleashed a torrent of insults aimed at Lee.
But Lee struck a conciliatory note on the North and called for peaceful resolution of the international standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear program.
"We have deep affection for our compatriots in the North, and have no intention of threatening its political system," he said.
"The North ... needs to recognize that its economic difficulties do not stem from external threats. The international community endeavors to dissuade the North from acquiring nuclear capabilities. The North should not take these efforts of persuasion as an act of hostility."
BEEF DISPUTE
The North Korean nuclear program was addressed in similar terms in a speech by Washington's point-man on the issue, Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill.
"We need to get those people (North Korean leaders) to understand that they need to get rid of their nuclear weapons and join the rest of the world," Hill said.
But his semi-humorous speech did not address the complexities of the six-nation talks that have been held up for months pending a full accounting of North Korea's nuclear activities -- a declaration due at the end of last year.
People familiar with the matter said last week the United States and North Korea had reached a tentative agreement on how Pyongyang would disclose its activities. That step would trigger its removal from a U.S. list of states that sponsor terrorism and an end to other U.S. sanctions.
Lee, Hill and U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, who also spoke at the dinner, all called for speedy implementation of a U.S.-South Korean free trade pact, which has yet to be approved by legislatures in either country.
The pact was signed on June 30, 2007, but has been held up by a continuing dispute over U.S. beef. Leading U.S. farm state lawmakers have warned the Bush administration not to send the agreement to Congress until South Korea fully reopens its market to U.S. beef exports.
Referring to demonstrations against the agreement at the hotel where the dinner was held, Hill said his message to the demonstrators was "there will be an FTA (trade accord) ... and maybe we need a bulldozer to get it done."
Only Gutierrez, however, referred briefly to the beef problem, telling the diners, "I see you're all eating beef."
Businessmen and analysts are looking to see if Lee's visit will bring a new offer on beef to unblock the trade pact.
(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
