SEOUL, Jan. 2 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak said Monday that South Korea will open a "window of opportunity" in improving relations with North Korea as the North's new leader Kim Jong-un took over the communist state following the death of his father.
"The most important target at this moment is peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula," Lee said in nationally televised New Year's address. "We are leaving a window of opportunity open."
Lee also expressed hope that this year will mark a turning point in resolving the North's nuclear standoff, saying the six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons programs could resume only if Pyongyang halts all of its nuclear activities.
If North Korea provokes South Korea again, Seoul will "strongly respond" to any provocative acts, Lee said.
While North Korea publicly declared Kim Jong-un, the designated son of the late leader Kim Jong-il, to be the regime's supreme leader, outside experts remain cautious on whether he will be able to consolidate his grip on power.
Little is known about the North's next leader, who is believed to be in his late 20s, and the succession process has been shrouded in secrecy.
On Sunday, North Korea issued its New Year's message urging its military and people to become "human rifles and bombs" to defend Kim Jong-un and rally behind the young leader.
Inter-Korean ties are currently at one of their lowest levels in years. In its latest hostilities against South Korea in 2010, North Korea sank a South Korean warship and attacked a border island with artillery fire, killing a total of 50 South Koreans.
<한글기사>
MB "남북관계, 기회의 창 열어놓고 있다"
(서울=연합뉴스) 김종우 기자 = 이명박 대통령은 2일 남북문제와 관련, "지금 우리에게 가장 긴요한 목표는 한반도의 평화와 안정"이라며 "우리는 기회의 창을 열 어놓고 있다"고 말했다.
이 대통령은 이날 오전 TV와 라디오로 생중계된 신년 `특별 국정연설'에서 이같이 말한 뒤 "북한이 진정성 있는 태도로 나온다면 새로운 한반도 시대를 함께 열어갈 수 있을 것"이라고 밝혔다.
이 대통령은 "올해에는 북한 핵문제 해결에 전기가 마련되기를 기대한다"면서 "북한이 진행 중인 핵 관련 활동을 중단하는대로 6자회담은 재개될 수 있을 것"이라 고 덧붙였다
.