President Lee Myung-bak stressed Sunday that the two Koreas should renew their relations through genuine dialogue, saying this year is an appropriate time for the communist neighbor to change its course.
"South Korean people think that there should be a real change in South-North Korean relations," Lee said after a mountain-climbing session with reporters to mark the third anniversary of his inauguration that falls on Friday.
Lee reiterated that "this year is an appropriate time for North Korea to change itself" after years of heightened inter-Korean tensions, and said that Seoul is open to talks with Pyongyang including a summit-level dialogue.
"I would like to give North Korea the message that we are always open (to talks) and (it has) a good chance this year," he said.
The nuclear-armed North plans to declare itself a "great, powerful and prosperous" nation in April 2012, the centenary of the birth of the country's founder Kim Il-sung. North Korea watchers say Pyongyang is apparently rushing to maximize its military arsenal by the deadline, and it would become more difficult to denuclearize the communist nation through diplomacy after the symbolic assertion.
The president said South Koreans support a two-track approach toward the North -- tough countermeasures against its military provocations and efforts for peace.
"I think North Korea is being distressed by many other countries' calls for a change," he said. Lee said his government will consult with other nations -- especially the other members of the six-way talks on the North's nuclear program -- if progress is made in efforts for true inter-Korean dialogue. The six-way talks, stalled for years, also involve the United States, China, Russia and Japan.
Lee, a conservative, said his administration hopes for peace, co-existence and co-prosperity with the people in the North.
"I never want North Korea to be ridiculed by the international community," he said, recollecting a recent conversation with a foreign head of state about the North's heir apparent -- Kim Jong-un -- who became a four-star army general last year at the age of 28.
Lee said he felt ashamed when the leader, whom he refused to identify, derided the North's decision to promote Kim, a young man with no military background, to the top military post for a father-to-son power transition.
On the controversial domestic issues of where a science-business belt and a new airport should be constructed, Lee said they would be handled by June.
"The issues will be resolved within the first half of this year," Lee said, adding a decision will be made in a legitimate and reasonable way, not through politicking. "It is better for the issues to be resolved in a fair way in a fair society that moves toward an advanced, top-notch nation."
Lee made a campaign pledge to create a science-business belt in the central province of Chungcheong but he has taken a vague stance since the National Assembly last year voted down his push to scrap a plan by the previous Roh Moo-hyun administration to create an administrative town in the province.
Political debates have been brewing as well over the location of a new airport scheduled to be constructed in the southeastern region where as many as 13 million people reside.
If constructed, it would serve as another main gateway to the nation along with Incheon International Airport, just west of Seoul.
Busan, the country's second largest city, is fiercely competing with Miryang, which is supported by Daegu and Ulsan. Municipal officials and lawmakers with constituencies there have been lobbying hard to win the bid.
The president, meanwhile, sidestepped a question on another politically sensitive topic, constitutional amendment. Key lawmakers in the ruling Grand National Party have been demanding full-fledged discussions on whether and how to revise the Constitution written in 1987.
"I will talk about such a difficult subject later when I'm clad in a suit and necktie," rather than mountaineering clothes, he said.
He said he will not be swayed by media speculation on an early lame-duck presidency, with two years left in his term. South Korea's president is barred from seeking reelection under the Constitution.
Lee likened his five-year presidency to a journey on a flatland, not a mountain with a descent following an ascent.