SKorea, US agree on FTA

SKOREA: South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Thursday he and his US counterpart Barack Obama held close consultations and reached agreements on various issues, such as South Korea-US alliance, the DPRK’s nuclear issue, the pending bilateral FTA, and other global issues.

The two leaders, in particular, agreed to move forward on the FTA and to stick to the Lee-proposed ‘grand bargain,’ on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)’s nuclear issue.

“Today, we held more in-depth, meaningful dialogue than ever,” Lee said at a joint press conference after the bilateral summit.

“In addition, we agreed to keep discussing on concrete measures to further develop bilateral ties, confirming that the two countries are having ‘the best’ relationship at the moment,” Lee added.

According to Lee, two leaders reaffirmed the two nations’ strong joint security system, including the nuclear umbrella and nonproliferation, and vowed to develop the two-nation alliance by fully implementing “the Joint Vision for the Alliance of the Republic of Korea and the United States,” signed last June at their second summit in Washington.

With respect to the issue of the pending bilateral FTA, Lee said “President Obama and I reaffirmed the economic, strategic importance of the South Korea-US FTA, and we agreed to move forward on the deal together.”

“We have completely agreed on the need of the ‘grand bargain,’ which I had earlier proposed, to resolve the DPRK’s nuclear issue, and we will closely work on the detailed measures and agenda,” Lee also said. Seoul, Thursday, Xinhua