U.S. president offers economic and political incentives
U.S. President Barack Obama wrapped up his Asian tour with a stop in Seoul, where he and South Korean leader Lee Myung-bak extended an olive branch to North Korea. The leaders tabled a “grand bargain” laden with both political and economic incentives, and Obama announced that he and special envoy Stephen Bosworth would fly to the country next month to start bilateral talks aimed at resuming the six-nations nuclear disarmament negotiations. Tensions have been growing on the Korean Peninsula since Lee took power and ended a policy of free-flowing trade with the North, leading the communist regime to resume nuclear and missile tests and announce that it had produced weapons-grade plutonium. “I hope that by accepting our proposal, the North will secure safety for itself, improve the quality of life for its people, and open the path to a new future,” said Lee.