Hatoyama, Lee agree to work for comprehensive solution on N. Korea

SEOUL, Oct. 9 Kyodo -
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak
agreed Friday to work for a comprehensive solution to the North Korean nuclear,
ballistic missile and abduction issues.
The two leaders also agreed to move forward on Hatoyama's concept of an ''East
Asian community,'' the Japanese prime minister told a joint news conference
after the meeting. ''I was able to share with President Lee the thinking that
we should take a step forward on the concept.''
Hatoyama also expressed his willingness to consider giving foreign nationals in
Japan, such as permanent residents of Korean descent, the right to vote in
local elections.
''I personally want to come to a conclusion in a forward-looking manner,'' he
said. But ''it would take time (to realize the idea) because people's feelings
and thoughts are not necessarily unified.''
Referring to the 1995 statement by then Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi
Murayama acknowledging that Japan had inflicted damage and suffering on Asian
and other countries ''through its colonial rule and aggression,'' Hatoyama said
the (Japanese) people and government must understand that it represents a very
important way of thinking.
''This new government has the courage to proceed with matters with its eyes
wide open to history,'' he said.
Praising Hatoyama's stance on the issue, Lee told the news conference, ''I
highly appreciate Prime Minister Hatoyama looking squarely into the past, his
truthfulness and open-mindedness to establishing a future-oriented
relationship.''
''I will closely cooperate to create a bilateral relationship that is
(geographically) close and also (psychologically) close,'' Lee said.
On a South Korean proposal that Japanese Emperor Akihito visit the country,
however, Hatoyama was not as positive.
While acknowledging that the emperor may want to pay a visit himself, Hatoyama
said his age and schedule may stand in the way. ''There is an environment in
which I can't easily say, 'Yes, sure.'''
Earlier this month, Lee expressed hope that the emperor would visit South Korea
next year to ''put an end to the sense of distance'' between the two countries
as 2010 will mark a century since the beginning of Japan's colonial rule of the
Korean Peninsula that ended in 1945.
Friday's meeting, which was held in Seoul on the first leg of Hatoyama's first
diplomatic tour of Asia since taking office in mid-September, came a day ahead
of trilateral summit talks in Beijing involving the two leaders and Chinese
Premier Wen Jiabao.
Wen visited North Korea earlier this week and met with North Korean leader Kim
Jong Il, who reportedly expressed his country's readiness to return to the
six-party talks on its denuclearization if relations with the United States
improve.
Hatoyama and Lee agreed Friday to see whether North Korea truly intends to
abandon its nuclear capabilities, while continuing to work closely on issues
related to the North, such as resolving Pyongyang's past abductions of foreign
nationals, including Japanese and South Koreans, a government official said.
At the news conference, Lee stressed the importance of his ''grand bargain''
proposal -- in which other members of the six-party talks would offer North
Korea a one-time deal of concessions and aid in exchange for its
denuclearization.
''We shared the understanding that a fundamental and comprehensive solution is
needed so that the negotiation pattern that has been going on for a long time
will not be repeated,'' Lee told the news conference.
Hatoyama said Lee's approach is ''absolutely correct.''
At the trilateral meeting to be held Saturday, Wen is expected to brief his
Japanese and South Korean counterparts on his meeting with Kim. The three are
expected to then agree to urge North Korea to return to the multilateral talks
quickly.
The six-nation talks, chaired by China, also involve the two Koreas, Japan,
Russia and the United States. North Korea withdrew from the multilateral
process in April and conducted a nuclear test the next month.
In his first Asian tour, Hatoyama is hoping to make a case for his concept of a
regional community modeled on the European Union. After meeting with Hatoyama,
Lee expressed his intention to work proactively on it.
''While it may take time, I don't think that a community will not be created in
East Asia,'' he said at the news conference.
Seoul had pressed Tokyo to choose it as the first Asian country to be visited
by Hatoyama as prime minister, with South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade
Minister Yu Myung Hwan making the request to Hatoyama in Tokyo on Sept. 30,
according to Japanese officials.
Hatoyama and Lee met for the first time as heads of state in New York on the
sidelines of U.N. meetings late last month. The two agreed then to work to
build a future-oriented relationship, while converging on the need to cooperate
on global issues such as climate change and nuclear disarmament.
Hatoyama left Tokyo for Seoul on early Friday and traveled to Beijing in the
late afternoon. He is due back in Japan early Sunday.
==Kyodo