Lee urges Canadian support for denuclearization of N. Korea
SEOUL, Nov. 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Monday asked Canada to actively support his country's efforts to denuclearize North Korea, saying the international community must continue to implement U.N. sanctions until the communist North expresses a clear and honest willingness to give up its nuclear programs.
Lee made the remarks during his meeting with Canada's visiting foreign minister, Lawrence Cannon, who arrived here Sunday on a three-day visit to set the agenda for a South Korea-Canada summit to be held early next month.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will visit Korea Dec. 6-7.
"Prime Minister Harper is very anxious to come here and meet with you and he recalled the excellent meeting he had with you in New York," Cannon told the South Korean president.
Lee, in return, said the upcoming summit will be a chance to further improve the special partnership that has been forged by the two countries.
The South Korean leader then asked for Canada's support for the denuclearization of North Korea, noting the two Koreas are the only divided nations in the world.
Lee said it was important to strictly implement U.N. sanctions on the North to help Pyongyang understand that the only way it will become a respected member of the international community is to give up its nuclear ambitions.
The U.N. sanctions are enforced under a Security Council resolution that was adopted shortly after the North conducted its second atomic test in May.
"President Lee also explained our proposal for a grand bargain with North Korea for the resolution of the nuclear issue and asked for Canada's continued support," Lee's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said in a press release.
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