In a news conference held at party headquarters to outline her diplomacy, security and unification policies, the 60-year-old candidate stressed she advocates sustainable peace, diplomatic trust and unification that can benefit all sides.
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"I am open to meeting North Korea's leader if it helps South-North relations," she said, adding that a summit can open a channel of dialogue that is critical if the two sides move forward to build trust.
The Saenuri candidate promised to build cooperation centers in each other's capital that can act as official representative offices in order to build up trust on the Korean Peninsula,
She said support will be given to help North Korea build up its economic infrastructure, which can lay the foundation for a Korean economic co-prosperity community.
The contender, who aims to become the country's first woman president, said her road map for unification calls for reaching a small-scale merger with the North in the economic field followed by broader political unity which can lead to the two sides becoming one.
"The goal is to reach a balance between hard-line and overly dovish stances in setting Seoul's North Korea policy," she said, hinting at a more reconciliatory stance compared to the incumbent Lee Myung-bak administration.
As part of the trust-building process, Park said she wants to pursue a "vision Korean project" that could help transform the Kaesong Industrial Complex into an international manufacturing center, and work together to develop the communist country's mineral resources. She pledged that if she is elected in the Dec. 19 presidential poll, Seoul will give top priority to supporting infants and small children in North Korea, take steps to support Pyongyang's drive toward eco-friendly growth, and to build up the Rajin-Sonbong region free trade zone.
Park, the daughter of late President Park Chung-hee, said she will establish a national security office that will act as a "control tower" to tackle such issues as diplomacy, defense and Seoul's critical alliance with Washington.
"The office will be tasked with coordinating possible differences in views within the government towards North Korea and other security issues, improving overall crisis management and ensuring policy consistency," she said. Park said that she will also prepare for the transfer of wartime operational control of South Korea's military forces from the United States set for 2015.
The contender said the alliance with the United States, in particular, must be strengthened to guard against North Korean aggression, and handle Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. The communist country tested two nuclear devices in the past.
She said, however, there can be no compromise on national security issues and made clear Seoul will not tolerate aggression along the Northern Limit Line (NLL) that acts as a de facto sea border between the two Koreas.
"There can be no surrender of the NLL that has been defended with South Korean blood," she said.
On the issue of defusing North Korea's nuclear ambitions, Park said she will engage in strategic dialogue with such countries as the United States and China.
Related to the proposal, Yun Byung-se, head of diplomacy and security policy coordination office at Park's election camp, said the presidential candidate is committed to making headway on North Korea's nuclear standoff.
He said in regards to the summit meeting with the North Korean leader, Park is not interested in formalities such as time and place of the talks.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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