hankyoreh

President-elect Lee Myung-bak said Monday that he is willing to hold summit talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il anytime, if such a meeting would contribute to the denuclearization of the communist state.

"Leaders of the two Koreas can meet anytime if it would be helpful to the denuclearization of North Korea. But the next summit has to take place in Seoul," said Lee in his New Year's news conference.

Outgoing President Roh Moo-hyun and Kim held the second-ever inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang last October and adopted a 10-point joint declaration calling for closer inter-Korean economic cooperation.

In the first inter-Korean summit between Roh's predecessor, Kim Dae-jung, and Kim Jong-il in the North Korean capital in 2000, the North Korean leader pledged to make a return visit to Seoul at an appropriate time, but has yet to keep the promise.

Asked if his incoming administration is willing to abide by the latest inter-Korean cooperation agreements signed between Roh and Kim, Lee vowed to conduct a thorough review of the accords.

"October's inter-Korean summit agreements were those sealed in principle and lacking in details. My new government will study the implementation of the agreements from the perspective of feasibility, fiscal burdens on the people and the national consensus," said Lee.

Touching on domestic issues, Lee vowed to embark on a campaign to streamline bloated government organizations, revitalize the sluggish economy, enforce across-the-board deregulation and build a cross-country waterway. Lee is pushing to consolidate 18 government ministries into 14 and downsize organizations and personnel at the presidential and prime ministerial offices, Lee's aides said. Regarding his campaign pledge to help the country attain seven percent economic growth, Lee explained his administration will set its sights on 6-percent growth this year in the face of a number of unfavorable factors at home and abroad.

"My government is determined to resuscitate the economy, but won't rely on any short-term stimulus package. The seven percent campaign pledge was intended for my entire five year-term and even the next decade," said the president-elect, who had long worked as CEO at Hyundai before his election as Seoul mayor in 2002. "Sweeping deregulation will lead to increases in private investment, new jobs and economic growth."

Lee then said he will rule out political considerations in the appointment of his first prime minister and Cabinet ministers, adding the prime minister will be entrusted with the task of crisscrossing the world to help boost the nation's natural resources diplomacy.

In his opening speech at the news conference, Lee said that his incoming government will accelerate inter-Korean cooperation as long as North Korea faithfully implements its denuclearization accord reached at six-party talks.

Lee noted that his government would make sustained efforts to redefine the South Korea-U.S. relationship in a future-oriented way, stressing that a closer alliance between Seoul and Washington would be helpful to North Korea.

Lee, scheduled to replace Roh Moo-hyun on Feb. 25, also called for improving practical cooperation with Japan, China and Russia, saying relations with them are critical to the future of South Korea.

A pragmatic conservative, Lee has repeatedly demanded that North Korea give up its nuclear weapons program as a prerequisite for aid and cross-border economic cooperation. Under the six-party deal signed last October with South Korea, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia, North Korea was supposed to have fully declared its nuclear program by Dec. 31 last year. The U.S. has said that the North failed to meet the deadline while Pyongyang has insisted it met the deadline in November. "With the inauguration of a new government in South Korea, the two Koreas must build practical cooperation. But the most important thing is mutual trust. If North Korea faithfully carries out its six-party agreement, inter-Korean relations will advance smoothly," Lee said in the speech. "The Koreas have to further improve ties with neighboring countries in order to upgrade inter-Korean relations. South Korea's closer relations with the U.S., in particular, would be helpful to North Korea. The advancement of South Korea-U.S. and inter-Korean relations will lead to an improved relationship between the U.S. and North Korea," Lee asserted.

SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Yonhap)