South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Monday he is willing to invite North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to Seoul for an international nuclear summit next year with U.S. President Barack Obama and dozens of world leaders if Pyongyang makes a firm commitment to give up its atomic programs.
The proposal, if realized and followed through by Pyongyang, could theoretically lead to the North's reclusive leader attending an international summit with foreign leaders for the first time ever, as well as to a rare summit between leaders of the two Koreas.
About 50 global leaders, including Obama, will attend the second Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul in late March to discuss steps to make the world safer without the threat of atomic weapons. The United States hosted the inaugural summit last year.
"I offer a proposal to invite Chairman Kim Jong-il to the Nuclear Security Summit on March 26-27 next year if North Korea agrees with
the international community that it will be firm and sincere about giving up nuclear programs," Lee said during a joint news conference in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Lee was referring to Kim's official title, chairman of the National Defense Commission.
"This is a very good opportunity for the sake of a bright future of North Korea. I would like to say that North Korea's future will be
brightened if it comes forward to the international community," he said, apparently referring to economic aid and security guarantees
that the impoverished nation could get if it forsakes its nuclear ambitions for good.
Last year, Lee made a similar remark during a press conference after the first Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, saying that he would "gladly invite" the North to the next meeting in Seoul if it demonstrates a clear denuclearization commitment, rejoins the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and comply with its regulations.
Monday's proposal was seen as aimed at pressuring Pyongyang to make a strategic choice to give up nuclear ambitions. It was also believed
to be aimed at helping break the deadlock in inter-Korean relations, frayed badly after the North's two deadly attacks on the South last
year.
The offer is in line with Lee's "Grand Bargain" initiative made in 2009 that calls for a package deal in which North Korea trades away
its nuclear programs in exchange for economic aid and security guarantees. The initiative made little progress as Pyongyang reacted coolly to the proposal.
South Korea had prior discussions with the United States on inviting the North's leader to the nuclear summit, a key presidential
security aide said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity.
In Washington, a senior Obama administration official said it's up to Lee to invite the North Korean leader to the nuclear summit.
"Invitations to the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit are the Republic of Korea's decision," the official said, asking anonymity.
"Denuclearization of North Korea would be a positive step towards this administration's nonproliferation and nuclear security goals. The
international community should judge the status of North Korea's actions as we approach the Seoul Summit in 2012."
It is unclear what specific steps the North should take before Lee could actually deliver the proposed invitation. The presidential official said that the North should take actions that "anybody can take as demonstrating a clear commitment" to denuclearization.
Allowing U.N. nuclear inspectors back to the North could be one of those steps, he said.
Lee and the aide also said that North Korea's apology for last year's attacks on the South would be an important gauge of Pyongyang's
sincerity.
"North Korea should apologize for its terror (attacks). I think this apology is a minimum criterion that guarantees sincerity," Lee
told the news conference.
Lee's offer came as South Korea has increased pressure on North Korea to take concrete steps to demonstrate its denuclearization commitment before opening the six-party nuclear talks. The
negotiations have been stalled since December 2008 due to Pyongyang's boycott and tensions over the North's deadly attacks on the South last
year.
North Korea has called for unconditional resumption of the negotiations, but Seoul and Washington have demanded that Pyongyang,
which has a track record of abusing the negotiations to extract concessions, first prove that it is serious about giving up nuclear
programs.
In an effort to determine the North's sincerity, South Korea has already proposed bilateral nuclear talks with the North. But the North has not responded to the proposal yet. Pyongyang has long refused to discuss the nuclear issue with Seoul, saying the matter should be
discussed exclusively with Washington.
The nuclear standoff gained urgency after Pyongyang revealed last year that it has a uranium enrichment facility. Uranium, if highly enriched, could yield weapons-grade uranium, providing the provocative regime with a second way of building atomic bombs after plutonium.
South Korea has been pushing to get the U.N. Security Council to take up the uranium program, saying it constitutes a violation of Security Council resolutions. The move is aimed at clearly
characterizing the illicit nature of the uranium program.
Pyongyang claims the uranium program is to produce fuel for electricity-generating nuclear reactor. Few buy the claim by a regime that has pursued nuclear weapons development for decades while conducting two test explosions, first in 2006 and then in 2009.