South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has called for North Korea to follow in China's footsteps to carry out gradual economic reform, saying the co-prosperity of the two Koreas is a prerequisite for their reunification, according to a British newspaper.
In an interview with the Financial Times, conducted in Seoul on Thursday and published the following day, Lee was reported to have said that Seoul wants Pyongyang to pursue economic success, but without falling further under Beijing's heavy political influence.
"I would really like (North Korea's) chairman Kim (Jong-il) to see a lot more of China, the China of today, witnessing with his own eyes the result of what can happen to a country's prosperity when you open up to the world," Lee was quoted as saying.
Lee's office Cheong Wa Dae confirmed part of his comments but stressed that the president did not pinpoint China as North Korea's role model during the interview.
The Financial Times, in an articled headlined, "South Korea urges North to emulate China's reform model", "seems to have interpreted President Lee's wording from its own perspective," Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman Kim Hee-jung told reporters and released a transcript of Lee's comments on North Korea.
When asked about his view on the North Korean leader's repeated trips to China, most recently in September, the president reiterated that he sees Kim's frequent visits to the rapidly emerging economic power in a positive light. The trips would provide Kim with a chance to witness China's change, according to the transcript.
The newspaper, which did not make public the full text of its interview with Lee, also cited the president as saying that it is "unpalatable" for Seoul that Pyongyang falls even more deeply under Beijing's political influence and that the communist nation remains a "belligerent" force. Cheong Wa Dae said Lee did not make such remarks.
"President Lee just said that North Korea is still under the strong leadership of Chairman Kim Jong-il. Thus, there will no radical change (in the geopolitical situation)," the spokeswoman said.
She said Lee gave the latest media interview to focus on South Korea's vision for the summit of Group of 20 leading economies, with Seoul set to host a November session.
Lee said he expects progress in the Nov. 11-12 summit in global efforts to address trade imbalances, boosted by a compromise in the preparatory meeting of G-20 finance chiefs in Gyeongju earlier this month.
Still, he was guarded about the prospects of a deal on "specific numerical targets."
Lee arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam, to attend an annual summit with Southeast Asian nations and wider gatherings also involving China, Japan and some other regional powers.
Lee had bilateral talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here Friday to discuss ways to ensure the success of the Seoul meeting.