The President and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama held a summit meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Friday (Oct. 9). The Prime Minister''s visit to Seoul was his first trip outside Japan for a bilateral dialogue.

During the summit meeting, the leaders exchanged their ideas on ways to have North Korea return to the six-party talks as early possible (including the President Lee''s "grand bargain" strategy, which he presented during his September visit to the United States), fostering peace and stability in the North East Asian region, and advancing ties between two countries in economy, culture and green growth.

"Prime Minister Hatoyama''s visit to Korea is his first overseas trip for a bilateral talk since his inauguration, which shows well the enhanced relationship between Korea and Japan," President Lee Myung-bak said at a joint press conference held with the Prime Minister after the morning meeting.

The Prime Minister''s visit this time would further strengthen Korea-Japan relations, Lee said, and Japan would continue to advance under the outstanding leadership of new Prime Minister Hatoyama.

Much of their time together was spent discussing cooperative relationships in the East Asian region and the North Korean nuclear issue.

"Both of us concurred that North Korea''s complete change in attitude is necessary to resolve the country''s nuclear problems. The two countries will faithfully abide by the UN resolution (related to dealing with N. Korea) and cooperate to have the country return to the six-party talks at an early date," President Lee said.

President Lee said in particular that he and the Prime Minister agreed to pursue the "grand bargain," a reciprocity-based North Korea strategy, through close consultations among the six-party members. Prime Minister Hatoyama supported the "grand bargain" by saying that economic assistance and security guarantees should not be given to North Korea unless the country takes visible action to abandon its nuclear ambitions.

As to the "East Asian Community" plan suggested by the Japanese Prime Minister, President Lee said such a community is timely and necessary, considering that countries around the world are uniting regionally, centered around economic blocs, such as the European Union, similar organizations in the Americas, and ASEAN.

Lee and Hatoyama also pledged to closely work together in preparing for the G20 and APEC summit meetings and in responding to climate change. For one, they agreed to advance their discussion on the "Korea-Japan green partnership," a cooperative plan to seek newer growth engines.

The two countries agreed to squarely face their common past and develop bilateral ties in a future-oriented manner with sincerity, according to President Lee.

The leaders also welcomed the successful hosting of the recent Korea-Japan culture festival in Tokyo and agreed to further deepen such cultural exchanges.