Presidential Visit
President Obama, South Korea President Discuss North Korea, Trade Issues
By Merle David Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer
June 16, 2009
Washington — President Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said they are committed to making the Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons, and that recent actions by North Korea pose a grave threat.
“North Korea has abandoned its own commitments and violated international law,” Obama said June 16 at a White House press conference with Lee. “Its nuclear and ballistic missile programs pose a grave threat to peace and security of Asia and to the world.”
“We will pursue denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula vigorously. We have not come to a conclusion that North Korea will or should be a nuclear power,” Obama said.
The two presidents met for the second time this year to discuss security issues in Northeast Asia and actions by North Korea in recent months — first testing a long-range ballistic missile in April and then testing a nuclear weapon in late May. The two presidents also spent time in the Oval Office discussing the Group of Eight economic summit to be held in Italy July 8–10. South Korea will attend at the request of the host, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Lee said South Korea and the United States “agreed that under no circumstances are we going to allow North Korea to possess nuclear weapons.” And he said they both agreed they would implement U.N. sanctions robustly.
The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously June 12 to impose additional security and economic sanctions and a trade and arms embargo against North Korea for testing a nuclear device May 25 and also for testing a long-range ballistic missile in April. The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence reported June 15 that the nuclear explosion had a yield of “a few kilotons.”
The five permanent U.N. Security Council members, along with Japan and South Korea, sought the resolution after North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test on May 25 (9 p.m. EDT May 24). On May 25, the Security Council unanimously condemned North Korea’s nuclear test, including strong objections from Pyongyang’s traditional allies China and Russia. The resolution builds on and enforces sanctions not yet implemented from previous resolutions against North Korea’s nuclear and long-range missile programs.
ECONOMIC AND TRADE TALKS
Lee and Obama also discussed renewed efforts to address the global economic crisis. Obama cited the “bold and sustained action to jump-start growth” and prevent future crises agreed to in April by industrialized nations meeting on London. “Today, we reaffirmed this effort, as well as our commitment to resist protectionism and to continue our close collaboration.”
Lee said he and Obama discussed ways to proceed with the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, which has not yet been ratified, and agreed to strengthen commercial ties while also pursuing efforts to remove trade barriers. Lee said he welcomed the start of working-level trade consultations to make progress on the free-trade agreement.
“What I’ve done is to affirm, to President Lee, that we want to work constructively with the Republic of Korea, in a systematic way, to clear some of these barriers that are preventing free trade from occurring between our two countries,” Obama said.
Obama said he and Lee also agreed to a joint vision for the U.S.-South Korean alliance that was released at the White House June 16.