ID :
23722
Fri, 10/10/2008 - 18:16
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/23722
The shortlink copeid
Lee confidant warns against N.K. aid going to military
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (Yonhap) -- A close confidant of South Korean President Lee
Myung-bak Thursday warned against the possibility of South Korea's economic
assistance to North Korea being diverted to military use.
"I oppose South Korea's economic aid being used for enhancing North Korea's
military strength and development of nuclear weapons," Lee Jae-oh said in a
speech to a forum at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of Johns
Hopkins University here.
The former three-term lawmaker, said to lead the largest faction within the
ruling Grand National Party, stressed the need for South Korea to "ensure that
its aid to the North help develop the North Korean economy and resolve North
Korean people's poverty."
Lee, who has taught Korean politics at SAIS since coming here following his
defeat in April parliamentary elections, discussed the policy of "productive
reciprocity" adopted by South Korea's new conservative government.
The engagement policies of President Lee's immediate liberal predecessors, Roh
Moo-hyun and Kim Dae-jung, involved the provision of hundreds of tons of rice and
fertilizer every year to North Korea, despite allegations the North appropriated
the aid for military purposes.
The launch of the pro-U.S. Lee administration in February chilled inter-Korean
ties. Pyongyang has consistently blasted Lee as a traitor who opposes Korean
reunification and has insisted it can do without South Korea's aid.
In another turnaround from his predecessors, Lee Myung-bak campaigned on a pledge
to link South Korean aid to the North's abandonment of its nuclear ambitions.
Lee Jae-oh said the current South Korean government, unlike previous ones, will
have a coordinated position with the U.S. in handling the North Korean nuclear
issue while maintaining the bilateral alliance.
Lee Jae-oh dismissed speculation that he would soon return home.
"I came here with a plan to conduct research for one year, and I have now spent
just five months here," he said. "I am happier to be called a professor in
Washington instead of a lawmaker in Seoul."
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (Yonhap) -- A close confidant of South Korean President Lee
Myung-bak Thursday warned against the possibility of South Korea's economic
assistance to North Korea being diverted to military use.
"I oppose South Korea's economic aid being used for enhancing North Korea's
military strength and development of nuclear weapons," Lee Jae-oh said in a
speech to a forum at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of Johns
Hopkins University here.
The former three-term lawmaker, said to lead the largest faction within the
ruling Grand National Party, stressed the need for South Korea to "ensure that
its aid to the North help develop the North Korean economy and resolve North
Korean people's poverty."
Lee, who has taught Korean politics at SAIS since coming here following his
defeat in April parliamentary elections, discussed the policy of "productive
reciprocity" adopted by South Korea's new conservative government.
The engagement policies of President Lee's immediate liberal predecessors, Roh
Moo-hyun and Kim Dae-jung, involved the provision of hundreds of tons of rice and
fertilizer every year to North Korea, despite allegations the North appropriated
the aid for military purposes.
The launch of the pro-U.S. Lee administration in February chilled inter-Korean
ties. Pyongyang has consistently blasted Lee as a traitor who opposes Korean
reunification and has insisted it can do without South Korea's aid.
In another turnaround from his predecessors, Lee Myung-bak campaigned on a pledge
to link South Korean aid to the North's abandonment of its nuclear ambitions.
Lee Jae-oh said the current South Korean government, unlike previous ones, will
have a coordinated position with the U.S. in handling the North Korean nuclear
issue while maintaining the bilateral alliance.
Lee Jae-oh dismissed speculation that he would soon return home.
"I came here with a plan to conduct research for one year, and I have now spent
just five months here," he said. "I am happier to be called a professor in
Washington instead of a lawmaker in Seoul."
