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Lee says won't be fazed by Pyongyang's bluster
Lee added that he is ready to begin a dialogue with North Korea at any time if it "opens its heart and tries to forge mutually beneficial relations" with South Korea.
- AP
- Published: 00:15 April 17, 2008
Seoul: South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said he would not be fazed by menacing comments from North Korea, following a tide of rhetoric threatening attacks on the South and hurling insults at him personally, his office said on Wednesday.
Lee made the remark in New York on Tuesday at a meeting with Korean Americans, Lee's office said.
"Unlike in the past, there will be nothing like aiding and negotiating with North Korea because of menacing remarks," he said.
Lee's US trip includes his first summit with President George W. Bush later this week.
Open to talks
Lee added that he is ready to begin a dialogue with North Korea at any time if it "opens its heart and tries to forge mutually beneficial relations" with South Korea.
Reconciliation between the two sides has been stalled since Lee took office in February with a pledge to get tough on the North.
Unlike his liberal predecessors, who sought detente with North Korea with massive aid and concessions, Lee opposes providing unconditional assistance to the North and calls for its nuclear disarmament as a precondition for economic cooperation.
That stance irked North Korea. Since late last month, it has expelled the South's officials from a shared industrial complex, test-fired missiles, called Lee a "political charlatan" and "traitor" and threatened to reduce the South to "ashes."
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