The South Korean president, Lee Myung-bak, said Monday he was ready to invite the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, a security summit if he resigned to develop nuclear weapons and apologized for clashes in 2010. In a press conference after talks in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Lee said it would extend the invitation to the March summit only if Pyongyang met those conditions.
"North Korea should say clearly and in advance that renunciation of nuclear weapons," Lee told reporters. "Only when that promise has been made we will extend the invitation," he said through a translator. "Apologies to North Korea are the basis for the six-party talks," he added, referring to discussions of a group that includes the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.
The idea of resuming the talks to encourage North Korea to abandon its nuclear program has gained momentum since the tension between hostile nations shot up in 2010. Last year South Korea. Diplomats from nations involved in talks in recent weeks increased their efforts. China and South Korea agreed late last month a step by step process to resume the talks.
Seoul and Washington are skeptical about the sincerity of North Korea, citing revelations last year of significant progress in uranium enrichment program that could open a second path for making an atomic bomb. Experts say North Korea has enough fissile material for its program of plutonium to manufacture eight bombs.
Few people believe that Pyongyang has given up nuclear weapons, which he sees as a way to deter an attack and a way to take advantage when negotiating. 
"North Korea should say clearly and in advance that renunciation of nuclear weapons," Lee told reporters. "Only when that promise has been made we will extend the invitation," he said through a translator. "Apologies to North Korea are the basis for the six-party talks," he added, referring to discussions of a group that includes the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.
The idea of resuming the talks to encourage North Korea to abandon its nuclear program has gained momentum since the tension between hostile nations shot up in 2010. Last year South Korea. Diplomats from nations involved in talks in recent weeks increased their efforts. China and South Korea agreed late last month a step by step process to resume the talks.
Seoul and Washington are skeptical about the sincerity of North Korea, citing revelations last year of significant progress in uranium enrichment program that could open a second path for making an atomic bomb. Experts say North Korea has enough fissile material for its program of plutonium to manufacture eight bombs.
Few people believe that Pyongyang has given up nuclear weapons, which he sees as a way to deter an attack and a way to take advantage when negotiating.
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