No reward for DPRK for just holding inter-Korean summit
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South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Tuesday that there would be no reward for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) for just holding an inter-Korean summit, the presidential office said.
"An inter-Korean summit can't be held without meeting certain conditions. Leaders of the two Koreas should meet under the condition that there cannot be any reward for holding a summit," Lee told a briefing, according to the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.
"There will be no concession on this issue. Keeping this principle will be good both for South Korea and the DPRK," he added.
Lee's remarks came after his comment in a recent interview with the British public broadcaster BBC hinting at a possible summit with the DPRK's leader Kim Jong-il within this year immediately ignited wide speculation on the subject among officials in Seoul.
Some top-ranking officials here went as far as to tell local media that holding a summit is now a matter of when, and that a summit, if held, would take place in March or April considering apparent peace overtures from the DPRK, or after local elections in early June in order to avoid potential charges that a summit is politically motivated.
Cheong Wa Dae has attempted to play down snowballing expectations at home for a summit, reiterating its position that Seoul can always meet with Pyongyang if the latter shows some changes to peacefully resolve nuclear issues and becomes ready to normalize inter-Korean ties.
Seoul will not seek a summit just for summit's sake, and there is currently nothing underway for a possible summit, according to Cheong Wa Dae.
But Cheong Wa Dae at the same time remains rosy about improving inter-Korean ties, with its spokesman Park Sun-kyoo recently telling reporters that the DPRK is "changing," which many say referred to the DPRK's apparent peace overtures, including its recent suggestion on reaching a peace treaty to replace a truce that ended the 1950-1953 Korean War and holding working-level military talks to possibly ease border restrictions.
Seoul and Pyongyang, technically still at war following the civil war which ended with a ceasefire, held two major summits in the last decade, with the first in 2000 and the second in 2007, when the inter-Korean relations warmed under Seoul's liberal- leaning presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun.
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