S.Korea, Japan agree on N.Korean nuke plan

SEOUL, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- South Korean and Japanese leaders said Friday they would seek a "comprehensive" solution to North Korea's nuclear issue in a "single-step" package deal.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama spoke to reporters following their summit in Seoul. They planned to go to Beijing later Friday to meet with Chinese leaders, the Yonhap News Agency said.

"We agreed on the need for a fundamental and comprehensive solution to the North Korean nuclear issue that will not lead to the negotiation tactics of the past, and we agreed to work closely together on a way to resolve the issue in a single step," Lee said.

The idea of a single-step solution was proposed last month by Lee, who urged an end to North Korea's "salami tactic" of dividing its denuclearization process into several bargaining chips and demanding incentives for each.

"We must find out North Korea's true intentions by pursuing a complete and comprehensive solution to North Korea's nuclear, as well as its ballistic missile programs," Hatoyama said. "Unless North Korea shows willingness to give them up, we must not provide economic assistance."

The Lee-Hatoyama summit came days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told China's visiting Premier Wen Jiabao that his country may rejoin six-nation denuclearization talks which it abandoned in April.