ROK's Lee renews aid offer to DPRK

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Amid tension, two Koreas hold rare talks

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-15 14:32

ROK President Lee Myung-bak waves upon arrival to participate in a celebration for Korean Liberation Day from Japanese colonial rule in 1945, in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009. [Agencies]

SEOUL, South Korea: South Korea's president renewed his offer of aid Saturday for the North if it abandons its nuclear weapons on the 64th anniversary of the divided peninsula's liberation from Japanese colonial rule.

In a nationally televised speech, President Lee Myung-bak said he wanted "a candid dialogue" with Pyongyang about dismantling its nuclear programs so the nation can prosper economically.

If Pyongyang moves transparently toward denuclearizing the Korean peninsula, Lee said his government will "actively" seek an international program to ensure the North's economic development and enhance the quality of its people's lives.

"Nuclear weapons will not guarantee its (the North's) security but rather make its future more difficult," he said.

Lee's remarks came on the 64th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japan, which colonized the Korean peninsula from 1910-1945. Hundreds of thousands of Koreans were forced into military service or sexual slavery for Japanese troops. Many Koreans still harbor strong resentment for the decades of brutal colonization.

"Sixty-four years ago today, we saw the entire nation overwhelmed with joy as we welcomed our independence," Lee said. "Here today, as we commemorate the anniversary of liberation, I would like to once again pay respect to the people of Korea that have made the country what it is today."

It was unclear if Seoul's proposed aid offer will prod Pyongyang to re-engage in talks with the South. Lee has made similar aid offers in the past, but the North has rejected them.

Tension on the Korean peninsula has ran high since the North fired a long-range rocket and conducted a nuclear test in recent months, prompting UN sanctions. The North later pulled out of the six-nation talks aimed at ending its nuclear program and vowed not to give up its nuclear program.

If progress on the nuclear issue is made, South Korea would also pursue development projects for the North's economy, infrastructure, and education system in coordination with other countries and international organizations. He did not provide details.

Lee speech came days after Pyongyang freed a South Korean worker detained for months for allegedly denouncing Pyongyang's political system. It also followed the North's release of two jailed US journalists after former President Bill Clinton made a surprise trip to the country.

Ties between the two Koreas began deteriorating when the pro-US, conservative Lee took office early last year with a tougher stance. Pyongyang responded by cutting most ties or curtailing key joint projects, except for an industrial complex in a border town.

The two sides fought in the Korean war that ended in a 1953 cease-fire, but that was never replaced with a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas technically at war.