Obama Lee South Korea Press Conference YoutubeObama Lee South Korea Press Conference Youtube
President Obama received a warm welcome in South Koera yesterday, with a festive ceremony and thousands of cheering people lining the streets of downtown Seoul. President Lee Myung-bak expressed his satisfaction with the ceremony, saying “I have to say that the arrival ceremony for our state visit was as spectacular as any that we’ve seen.”
At a special joint press conference, President Obama announced that he will send a diplomatic envoy to Pyongyang on Dec 8 for direct talks. He and President Lee Myung-bak pressed Pyongyang to stop behaving “in a provocative fashion” and return to six-party talks in order “to break the pattern that existed in the past”
“Our message is clear,” said the US president. “If North Korea is prepared to take concrete and irreversible steps to fulfill its obligations and eliminate its nuclear weapons program, the United States will support economic assistance and help promote its full integration into the international community. That opportunity and respect will not come with threats. North Korea must live up to its obligations.”
President Obama and President Lee Myung-bak also expressed their belief that there’s nothing to fear in a US-Korea Free Trade Agreement beyond improved relations and economic conditions.
“American companies and workers are very confident in our ability to compete,” Mr. Obama said alongside Lee. “And we recognize that there is not only an economic, but a strategic interest in expanding our ties to South Korea.
Lee addressed the concerns from autoworkers unions and auto companies, saying, “If there is any problem in the automotive sector…then we are ready to resolve this issue.”
