US embassy cables: Trying to crack the North Korea nut | World news | guardian.co.uk

US embassy cables: Trying to crack the North Korea nut | World news | guardian.co.uk:

"As a presidential candidate, Lee Myoung-bak called for a 'creative reconstruction' of Korea's foreign policy. In his February 2008 inaugural address, Lee criticized his two predecessors, saying, 'At times over the last ten years, we found ourselves faltering and confused.' He vowed to trade ideology for pragmatism as Korea's surest means of improving ties with its neighbors, and he's had some successes, especially with China and Russia, where Lee was able to expand substantially economic and political ties. Lee's efforts on Japan and North Korea are more mixed. With Japan, the South Korean public was not quite ready to accept fully Lee's attempts to compartmentalize history issues. Still, much progress was made in Seoul-Tokyo consultations on a variety of issues ranging from North Korea to economic to even security issues. On North Korea, Lee's conservative agenda was predictably rebuffed by Pyongyang. However, all signs are that President Lee is quite comfortable in sticking to denuclearization and reciprocity as the basis of his North Korea policy, especially as it enjoys considerable support."