South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Thursday he and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama held close consultations and reached agreements on various issues, such as South Korea-U.S. alliance, the DPRK's nuclear issue, the pending bilateral FTA, and other global issues.
The two leaders, in particular, agreed to move forward on the FTA and to stick to the Lee-proposed "grand bargain," on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's nuclear program.
"Today, we held more in-depth, meaningful dialogue than ever," Lee said at a joint press conference after the bilateral summit.
"In addition, we agreed to keep discussing on concrete measures to further develop bilateral ties, confirming that the two countries are having
'the best' relationship at the moment," Lee added.
According to Lee, two leaders reaffirmed the two nations' strong joint security system, including the nuclear umbrella and nonproliferation, and vowed to develop the two-nation alliance by fully implementing "the Joint Vision for the Alliance of the Republic of Korea and the United States," signed last June at their second summit in Washington.
"With respect to the DPRK and its nuclear program, we reiterated our firm stances over the DPRK's complete, verifiable denuclearization through the six-party talks," Lee said, adding that they expressed contents over close cooperation at the moment.
"We have completely agreed on the need of the 'grand bargain,' which I had earlier proposed, to resolve the DPRK's nuclear issue, and we will
closely work on the detailed measures and agenda" Lee also said.
The grand bargain proposal refers to a plan, which calls on the DPRK to abandon its nuclear programs "in a single step," in return for security, diplomatic and economic incentives.
Obama echoed Lee's remarks, saying "President Lee and I are in full agreement on a common approach going forward."
According to the U.S. president, they both agreed on "the need to break the pattern that has existed in the past, in which North Korea (the DPRK) behaves in a provocative fashion and then returns to talks for a while and then leave the talks seeking further concessions."
The two leaders also called for the DPRK's return to the six- party talks as early as possible and promised to closely cooperate with other members of the talks, said Lee.
President Obama also told reporters that Stephen Bosworth, special U.S. representative for North Korea policy, will visit Pyongyang on Dec. 8 for bilateral talks.
With respect to the issue of the pending bilateral FTA, Lee said "President Obama and I reaffirmed the economic, strategic importance of the South Korea-U.S. FTA, and we agreed to move forward on the deal together."
Obama, saying he is a "stronger believer" in the benefits of the FTA with South Korea, introduced concerns within the U.S. " around the
incredible trade imbalances that have grown over the last several decades."
The U.S. president, however, said one of his goals was "to make sure... that American people, American businesses, American workers recognize that we have to look at each agreement and each country on its own merits."
Lee and Obama also shared views on global issues, such as the G- 20 summit, climate changes, green growth, nuclear nonproliferation, and
antiterrorism, according to Lee.
In particular, the two summits discussed on Seoul's hosting the G-20 summit meeting in November, 2010, agreeing to cooperate on the event.
"As we appreciate Obama's efforts to build a denuclearized world, South Korea will participate in the nuclear security summit to be held next
April," Lee said.
The press conference came after a one-on-one summit, which was extended from thirty minutes to an hour.
A prescheduled meeting among the two leaders and their key ministers, therefore, were cancelled, local media reported.
The two leaders are to meet with the ministers at a luncheon hosted by the South Korean president, the media added. After visiting a U.S. military base to meet with a group of American
service members stationed here in the afternoon, Obama will head home, wrapping up his four-nation Asia tour.
The Lee-Obama meeting is the third of a kind since Obama's inauguration in Feburary.