Lee says N. Korea`s rocket launch linked to nuclear program

By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, March 30 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak warned that North Korea's
rocket launch, if carried out, would further ruin inter-Korean relations as well
as international disarmament talks, saying the launch can be seen as related to
its nuclear weapons program.
In an interview with the British newspaper Financial Times, published Monday, Lee
said there was no direct link between the inter-Korean relationship and the
stalled six-party nuclear disarmament talks, but that the North's firing of a
missile "or whatever it is" would hurt both.
"All countries in the world have agreed it is not in anyone's interest to
test-fire a missile," he said, noting that given North Korea's desire to develop
nuclear weapons, a rocket launch can only be seen as an attempt to acquire the
technology to deliver nuclear weapons.
Lee said his country's main objective in dealing with communist North Korea is to
peacefully reunify the two Koreas, though that will take some time.
"The endgame is peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula. That has never
changed and that will remain our objective," the president said
For now, however, the goal is to remain in peaceful co-existence, Lee said,
because peaceful reunification will not take place in the near future.
Inter-Korean relations have dipped to their lowest since the South Korean
president came into office 13 months ago with a pledge to deal more sternly with
the communist North than his liberal predecessors.
International negotiations on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program have
also hit a stumbling block with Pyongyang now threatening to permanently pull out
of the talks that also involve South Korea, the United States, Japan, China and
Russia if any country tries to intercept what it claims to be a satellite that it
said will be launched between April 4-8.
Turning to economic issues, the South Korean president said he will propose that
all countries "roll back" any trade or financial protectionist measures put into
place since the beginning of the global financial crisis when he attends the
Group of 20 summit in London later this week.
"As a concrete and actionable follow-up, I will propose that the World Trade
Organization report on a quarterly or regular basis to all the member states of
the practices of certain countries and, if they engage in protectionist measures,
to release the names," he said, noting there are many countries "clearly engaged
in some sort of protectionist measures."
The South Korean president is scheduled to depart Tuesday for London, where he
will also hold bilateral summits with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama and five
other heads of state, including Chinese President Hu Jintao and Australian Prime
Minister Kevin Rudd.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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