S.Korea's Lee rebuffed North offer to meet - report

Enlarge Photo South Korean President Lee Myung-bak walks to his office as it snows at the presidential...

Wed, Mar 5 08:04 AM

New South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who has pledged a tougher policy in dealing with North Korea, rebuffed his communist neighbour's offer to meet in January, a news report said on Wednesday.

The proposal was made through South Korea's National Intelligence Service "for responsible officials from the two sides to meet," the conservative Dong-a Ilbo newspaper quoted an unnamed government official as saying.

"But President Lee demanded clarification on the purpose of such a meeting, and the North subsequently suspended attempts to make contact," the official said.

Presidential Blue House officials could not immediately be reached for comment. The National Intelligence Service declined immediate comment.

Lee said repeatedly during his campaign for December's presidential election, which he won easily, that he would be harder on North Korea than his predecessors if it continued to resist international pressure to dismantle its nuclear threat, but reward it handsomely if it complied.

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