South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak on Monday offered North Korea a "grand bargain" to give up its nuclear program in return for aid and security guarantees, warning the communist state the offer may be its last.
The conservative leader, speaking in New York ahead of a United Nations summit, criticized the approach of past six-nation talks on North Korea as doing little but rewarding its bad behavior.
"We must have a comprehensive and integrated approach to fundamentally resolve the North Korea nuclear issue," Lee said at the Council on Foreign Relations.
"Through the six-party talks, North Korea would first dismantle the key elements of its nuclear program and then we would provide security guarantees and international assistance. This is what I call a grand bargain," he said.
"This is the only way for North Korea to ensure its own survival," he said. "No country would be hostile to them and they would be welcomed by the international community."
"North Korea must not throw away what may be its last chance," he warned.
His proposal follows the general outline of the six-nation talks, under which North Korea agreed in 2007 to halt its nuclear program in return for badly needed oil along with promises on its security.
But North Korea this year renounced the agreement — which involved China, Japan, the two Koreas, Russia and the United States — and incurred new sanctions with a range of provocative steps including a nuclear test.
In recent weeks, however, North Korea has signaled a new openness to resuming talks. On Friday, Chinese state media said North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il told an envoy from Beijing he was willing to engage in new talks.
Lee, who is reviled by the North for his tougher approach, said that 20 years of diplomacy on North Korea had focused only on intermediate goals and "compensated them for not keeping their promises."
"We did not touch the fundamental issue, which is the complete dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear program," Lee said.
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