SEOGWIPO, South Korea — South Korean President Lee Myung-bak urged Burma to take steps to promote democracy during a meeting with its prime minister on Tuesday, Lee's office said.
Lee held talks with Gen Thein Sein on the sidelines of a two-day summit between South Korea and leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
"President Lee expressed the hope that the Myanmar [Burma] government would address the concerns of the international community by making sure that national unity and democracy take root in a substantial manner through dialogue and compromise," Lee's office said in a press release.The statement offered no specifics and did not say how Gen Thein Sein responded.
The meeting came as detained Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is on trial in Rangoon for allegedly violating the terms of her house arrest. Closing arguments are scheduled for Friday.
Suu Kyi has been in detention without trial for more than 13 of the past 19 years. Her party won the country's last elections held in 1990, but the military, which has run Burma since 1962, did not allow her to take power.
The junta, which has come under strong international criticism, says it is committed to democracy and will hold elections next year, though serious doubts persist about its intentions.
South Korea was once ruled by a series of military-backed strongmen. Nationwide pro-democracy demonstrations in the summer of 1987 forced then president Chun Doo-hwan, a former general who took power in a coup, to restore direct presidential elections.
Lee and Thein Sein agreed that their nations would cooperate to further expand trade and investment, the release also said.
Lee held talks with Gen Thein Sein on the sidelines of a two-day summit between South Korea and leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
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| South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, right, greets Burmese Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein before their meeting at a hotel, the venue of the Asean-Korea Commemorative Summit in Seogwipo on Jeju island, South Korea, on June 2. (Photo: AP) |
The meeting came as detained Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is on trial in Rangoon for allegedly violating the terms of her house arrest. Closing arguments are scheduled for Friday.
Suu Kyi has been in detention without trial for more than 13 of the past 19 years. Her party won the country's last elections held in 1990, but the military, which has run Burma since 1962, did not allow her to take power.
The junta, which has come under strong international criticism, says it is committed to democracy and will hold elections next year, though serious doubts persist about its intentions.
South Korea was once ruled by a series of military-backed strongmen. Nationwide pro-democracy demonstrations in the summer of 1987 forced then president Chun Doo-hwan, a former general who took power in a coup, to restore direct presidential elections.
Lee and Thein Sein agreed that their nations would cooperate to further expand trade and investment, the release also said.
