With North Korea as a possible nuclear threat and in the aftermath of the country's recent jailing of 2 American journalists, President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak had a lot to talk about this morning. At the top of the list was North Korea's controversial nuclear program.
"We agreed that under no circumstance are we going to allow North Korea to possess nuclear weapons," Lee said during a joint news conference with Obama at the White House today.
Obama, agreeing with the South Korean president, said that North Korea poses a "grave threat" to the world and also vowed to break a cycle that allows Pyongyang to create a crisis and then be rewarded with incentives to back down.
"We will pursue denuclearization on the Korean peninsula vigorously," Obama said.
The united front between the United States and South Korea comes shortly after the U.N. Security Council announced tougher sanctions on North Korea after the country's second nuclear test last month. Resolution 1874, which passed unanimously, demands that North Korea halt its nuclear and missile activity and return unconditionally to the six-party talks with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the United States about nuclear disarmament.
Lee also made the trip to Washington in hopes that he could revive a stalled free-trade agreement between South Korea and the United States.
Obama said that he was "committed to moving forward on a path that will increase commercial ties that are already very strong between our two countries."
- Read more about the 2 journalists held in North Korea.
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Michael J.S. Shim of MA 2:31AM June 18, 2009