.S Korea president demands apologies from Pyongyang for Cheonan.

10/9 Tass 181

MOSCOW, September 10 (Itar-Tass) - The Republic of Korea's President
Lee Myung-bak is convinced that the normalisation of inter-Korean
relations may be possible only after North Korea apologises for the
sinking of the Cheonan corvette.
"Surely, we want the inter-Korean relations to be normalised, and the
international community pays much interest to peace and stability in the
Korean Peninsula," he said in an interview to the Russia 24 TV channel on
Friday. "We cooperate closely here."
"That was the purpose of the sextet talks on North Korea's nuclear
problems with countries like Russia, the USA, China, Japan, but the
sinking of the Cheonan corvette affected the process," he said. "We
believe that North Korea should present its apologies for the accident and
after that we should turn to normalising our relations."
"We and other participants in the sextet talks are convinced that
North Korea's nuclear problem should be solved and Pyongyang should refuse
from its nuclear weapons," Mung-bak said. "With this in mind we undertake
our efforts and this is also very important."
"Time will show when our relations will normalise," he added. "It may
take much time, or it may happen in the nearest time."

-0-kar/gor