out the possibility of a leaders' summit with rival North Korea if
planned inter-Korean dialogue goes well, saying he had high hopes for
their first talks in months.
The two Koreas have agreed to discuss November's attack by the North
on a southern island and an attack in March on a South Korean naval
vessel which Seoul has blamed on the North, helping to ease tension on
the peninsula and opening the way for the possible resumption of
six-party aid-for-disarmament talks.
The two attacks killed 50 people.
Seoul has suggested preliminary military talks take place at the
Panmunjom truce village on February 11. The talks are meant to set the
agenda for a more senior meeting, possibly at ministerial level.
The South has also proposed separate political talks to gauge
Pyongyangy's sincerity about denuclearization, the key component of
stalled aid-for-disarmament talks which the North walked out of two
years ago.
The North has yet to respond to the proposal for bilateral nuclear talks.
"I don't deny it," Lee said when asked during a live television
interview if progress at upcoming talks could possibly lead to a
summit between the rival Koreas' leaders. "We can have a summit if
needed."
Lee cut off a decade of unconditional aid to the North when he took
office in 2008, angering Pyongyang, and demanded the isolated neighbor
end its nuclear programs if it wanted Seoul to get back to commercial
exchange and giving aid.
Lee said he has high expectations that the North will abandon the path
it had taken in the past of staging hostile acts to raise tensions,
then seeking dialogue with the South to win concessions.
