The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Tuesday voiced its unwillingness to hold a meeting between its leader Kim Jong Il and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak.
"It is quite clear that it is impossible to sit at the negotiating table with such a man (Lee)," a spokesman for the DPRK's semi-official Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland (CPRF) told the official KCNA news agency.
The spokesman made the remarks when asked for comments on Japanese news agency Kyodo's report that the South Korean president said he would be willing to meet Kim at any time if it helps solve the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.
Lee totally "negated and ignored" the previous two inter-Korean summits in 2000 and 2007 and the two declarations signed during the two summits, a move which is "absolutely intolerable," the spokesperson was quoted as saying.
"Worse still, he asserted that the nuclear issue should be discussed at the north-south summit talks despite the fact that the issue is now being settled at the six-party talks," which proves that "he seeks a sinister aim," said the spokesman.
Lee should "be well-advised to clarify his stand" toward the two declarations before "talking about the summit talks," the CPRF spokesman said.
(Xinhua News Agency July 8, 2008)