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209132
Sat, 09/24/2011 - 09:00
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Lee returns home from trip to New York, Seattle
By Chang Jae-soon
SEOUL, Sept. 24 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak returned home Saturday from a trip to New York and Seattle that included speeches at the U.N. General Assembly and a high-level nuclear safety meeting, bilateral summits and a meeting with Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
The centerpiece of the five-day trip was the keynote speech at the General Assembly. Lee used the address to reaffirm his stance that Pyongyang should first give up its nuclear programs before the South can help the impoverished neighbor restore its broken economy.
"The North Korean nuclear threat poses significant challenges to peace on the Korean Peninsula, Northeast Asia and beyond," Lee said, adding that South Korea has tried for the past 20 years to end Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions and will continue to do so.
Lee said he hopes to see North Korea "enjoy peace and prosperity by becoming a responsible member of the international community." If Pyongyang "chooses the path to mutual benefit and common prosperity, we will be ready to help in this endeavor along with the international community," he said.
The appeal came after the chief nuclear envoys of the two Koreas produced no breakthrough in talks in Beijing. North Korea refused to accept Seoul's demand that it first take some steps to roll back its nuclear programs before restarting the broader six-party nuclear talks, officials said.
U.S. President Barack Obama also said in his U.N. address that North Korea has yet to take concrete steps towards abandoning its weapons programs while continuing belligerent action against the South. He warned that Pyongyang will face "greater pressure and isolation."
Lee also called for global leaders to work harder to bridge the gap between rich and poor nations, saying a serious development divide is not only an economic problem, but also could hurt international peace and security.
Lee believes that social inequalities have worsened so much in market-based economies that it could destabilize societies unless the gaps are narrowed. Lee has called for a new type of market economy that puts a greater emphasis on sharing the benefits of growth with the less privileged.
Lee's speech at Thursday's nuclear safety meeting focused on an appeal that the use of atomic power is inevitable to meet growing energy needs and fight climate change and that accidents like Japan's nuclear disaster can be prevented with strengthened safety measures.
"I'm not saying that nuclear energy is the only option for solving future energy problems. Efforts should be stepped up to promote other alternatives such as renewable energy," Lee said. "Yet the use of nuclear energy is inevitable as there still remain technical and economic limits for alternative energy to meet the rapidly rising global energy demand or to tackle the problem of climate change."
South Korea is a global atomic energy leader that relies on nuclear plants for about 40 percent of its electricity needs. The country has also been trying to export nuclear power plants since Korean firms won a massive contract in late 2009 to build four atomic power plants in the United Arab Emirates.
While in New York, Lee also held bilateral summits with Japan's new Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Peru's new President Ollanta Humala.
Lee and Noda agreed to work closely together and with the United States to deal with North Korea, while Lee's talks with Humala were dominated by how to further boost trade and investment between the two countries after a free trade agreement took effect last month.
In Seattle, Lee held talks with Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire and met with Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
The meeting with Gates, their third since Gates visited South Korea in May 2008 and agreed to act as Lee's global advisor, was mainly about how to help people in developing countries in Africa and other parts of the world, a focus of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
SEOUL, Sept. 24 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak returned home Saturday from a trip to New York and Seattle that included speeches at the U.N. General Assembly and a high-level nuclear safety meeting, bilateral summits and a meeting with Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
The centerpiece of the five-day trip was the keynote speech at the General Assembly. Lee used the address to reaffirm his stance that Pyongyang should first give up its nuclear programs before the South can help the impoverished neighbor restore its broken economy.
"The North Korean nuclear threat poses significant challenges to peace on the Korean Peninsula, Northeast Asia and beyond," Lee said, adding that South Korea has tried for the past 20 years to end Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions and will continue to do so.
Lee said he hopes to see North Korea "enjoy peace and prosperity by becoming a responsible member of the international community." If Pyongyang "chooses the path to mutual benefit and common prosperity, we will be ready to help in this endeavor along with the international community," he said.
The appeal came after the chief nuclear envoys of the two Koreas produced no breakthrough in talks in Beijing. North Korea refused to accept Seoul's demand that it first take some steps to roll back its nuclear programs before restarting the broader six-party nuclear talks, officials said.
U.S. President Barack Obama also said in his U.N. address that North Korea has yet to take concrete steps towards abandoning its weapons programs while continuing belligerent action against the South. He warned that Pyongyang will face "greater pressure and isolation."
Lee also called for global leaders to work harder to bridge the gap between rich and poor nations, saying a serious development divide is not only an economic problem, but also could hurt international peace and security.
Lee believes that social inequalities have worsened so much in market-based economies that it could destabilize societies unless the gaps are narrowed. Lee has called for a new type of market economy that puts a greater emphasis on sharing the benefits of growth with the less privileged.
Lee's speech at Thursday's nuclear safety meeting focused on an appeal that the use of atomic power is inevitable to meet growing energy needs and fight climate change and that accidents like Japan's nuclear disaster can be prevented with strengthened safety measures.
"I'm not saying that nuclear energy is the only option for solving future energy problems. Efforts should be stepped up to promote other alternatives such as renewable energy," Lee said. "Yet the use of nuclear energy is inevitable as there still remain technical and economic limits for alternative energy to meet the rapidly rising global energy demand or to tackle the problem of climate change."
South Korea is a global atomic energy leader that relies on nuclear plants for about 40 percent of its electricity needs. The country has also been trying to export nuclear power plants since Korean firms won a massive contract in late 2009 to build four atomic power plants in the United Arab Emirates.
While in New York, Lee also held bilateral summits with Japan's new Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Peru's new President Ollanta Humala.
Lee and Noda agreed to work closely together and with the United States to deal with North Korea, while Lee's talks with Humala were dominated by how to further boost trade and investment between the two countries after a free trade agreement took effect last month.
In Seattle, Lee held talks with Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire and met with Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
The meeting with Gates, their third since Gates visited South Korea in May 2008 and agreed to act as Lee's global advisor, was mainly about how to help people in developing countries in Africa and other parts of the world, a focus of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
