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WASHINGTON: South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak vowed on Wednesday never to accept a nuclear-armed North Korea, while saying he hoped for an eventual reunification of the divided peninsula.
Lee was in Washington, where he met a day earlier with President Barack Obama, who joined him in calling on the communist North to cease a string of provocations, including a nuclear test.
"Under no circumstances will we allow North Korea to possess nuclear weapons," Lee said as he received an honorary degree at the George Washington University.
"North Korea must fully give up its nuclear ambitions and become a member of the international community. It must understand that that is in its best interest."
But the conservative leader said that he sought peace and hoped for "meaningful dialogue" with the North.
"Korea is the only country that is still divided. We will one day achieve unification, but until that happens it is important to maintain peaceful relations with our neighbour to the north," Lee said.
Pyongyang despises Lee, whom it routinely describes as a "traitor," and lashed out at him for appealing to Obama to guarantee South Korea's protection under the US nuclear umbrella.
The North insists that its "Korean bomb" will guarantee security in the divided peninsula. But the United States refuses to recognize Pyongyang as a nuclear weapons power. - AFP/de
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