Obama to Meet with South Korean President

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in Washington, 15 Jun 2009
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will hold talks with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington Tuesday, with the North Korean nuclear threat expected to dominate the talks.

Mr. Lee met with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton late Monday about the North Korean situation. His spokesman, Lee Dong-kwan tells South Korea's Yonhap news agency that Clinton said North Korea "must understand that bad behavior will always bring bad consequences."

The spokesman said Mr. Lee expressed appreciation for Washington's support of Seoul's North Korea policy.

Before leaving Seoul, the South Korean president said that despite recent North Korean rhetoric, the danger of a regional nuclear conflict is remote. He said the real threat is that Pyongyang might sell its nuclear technology to rogue states or terrorist groups.

A story in The New York Times Tuesday says the Obama administration will order the U.S. Navy to confront North Korean ships suspected of carrying arms or nuclear technology. The newspaper says the Navy will request permission to inspect the ships, but will not board them by force. Instead, the ships will be tracked to their next port, where Washington will press for the inspections refused at sea.

The Times says the administration will report any ship that refused inspection to the United Nations Security Council. The council passed a resolution Friday giving member states the authority to inspect all cargo heading to or from North Korea. It also bans weapons exports from the North and tightens financial restrictions.

North Korea's official news agency said more than 100,000 people gathered in the capital Monday to condemn the new sanctions.

Pyongyang has threatened to "weaponize" its remaining supply of plutonium and begin enriching uranium in order to build more nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, Japan's Asahi newspaper is reporting that the youngest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, secretly visited China last week on behalf of his father. The report says Kim Jong Un met with Chinese President Hu Jintao and other high-level Chinese officials, and told them he has already been appointed to succeed his father as leader of the family dynasty.