S Korean president reiterates not to hold "unprincipled" inter-Korean summit

SEOUL, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak reiterated his earlier stance that he has no interest in an "unprincipled" inter-Korean summit, the presidential office said Friday.

"Just as I have repeatedly said before, it is my consistent thought that I will never hold an unprincipled inter-Korean summit, one that would only have a purpose of meeting itself," Lee was quoted as saying by the presidential office in a meeting with his foreign and security policy advisers.

The remark came as a response to one of the advisers' recommendation that the Democratic people's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s nuclear program and human rights should be the main issues during an inter-Korean summit, if held.

Local media have been reporting that senior aides of President Lee and the DPRK's Kim Jong-il met in Singapore to push for a third inter-Korean summit.

Although the presidential office has been strongly denying the reports, speculation has been escalating on the possibility of the summit as a meeting between the U.S. and the DPRK seems likely before the year-end.

With respect to the so-called "grand bargain" proposal, which was introduced by the South Korean leader, the presidential aides said it was close to what the DPRK had claimed before.

The concept of the "grand bargain" proposal, which was brought up by President Lee during a South Korea-U.S. summit, calls on the DPRK to abandon its nuclear programs "in a single step," in return for security, diplomatic and economic incentives.

The president, however, said that what he had delivered to the U.S. leader was a concept of "the package deal", but it was the U.S. side that responded by saying whether it meant a great bargain.

"I think it will be appropriate for us to present a broad blueprint on the deal, and the contents should be made concrete through consultations among member countries of the six-party talks," said the president, according to the presidential office.

Amid increasing interests on the possibility of an inter-Korean summit, President Lee has been consistently stressing his policy stance towards the DPRK.

Earlier on Monday, Lee said in his parliamentary address that the government is firm in its determination to form a future-oriented inter-Korean relationship "on the basis of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the principles of co-prosperity and co-existence."