President calls for national unity, strong reaction to N. Korea

By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, May 26 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak called on his country Tuesday
to unite against the threats posed by North Korea's nuclear test, saying the
international community will take the strongest measures ever against the
communist state.

"In the face of the latest nuclear test, we will be taking strong countermeasures
that we have never seen before through close cooperation with the United States,
as well as other member nations of the six-party talks -- Japan, China and
Russia," Lee said at the beginning of a Cabinet fiscal management meeting.
Pyongyang said on Monday that it successfully conducted an underground nuclear
test earlier in the day.
"Our government will work with the international community to make sure that
North Korea will completely give up all its nuclear ambitions," the president
added.
Seoul has condemned the latest North Korean nuclear test as a "serious threat" to
peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and a "challenge" to the
international community.
Lee stressed the need to punish North Korea instead of engaging the communist
state while speaking with U.S. President Barack Obama on the phone earlier
Tuesday, noting Pyongyang was rewarded by the U.S. with concessions of direct
talks after it conducted its first nuclear test in 2006.
"President Obama asked me to remind our citizens of the strong Korea-U.S.
alliance and that the United States' nuclear deterrence and strong military will
protect South Korea in the face of nuclear threats from the North," the president
said of his conversation with his American counterpart.
The U.S. president noted Pyongyang, too, must realize the strength of the
Korea-U.S. alliance and Washington's strong commitment to the security of the
South, Lee said.
He added South Korean citizens were reacting very calmly, but stressed that they
must become more strongly united to overcome current threats and difficulties,
including the global economic crisis, that are now facing the country.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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