SKorean President Proposes Diplomatic Link with North

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will propose creating a permanent high-level diplomatic channel between the North and South, including establishing the first liaison offices in the nations' capitals after nearly six decades of division, The Washington Post reported Friday.

''Both North and South Korea must change their ways,'' Lee said in an interview with the newspaper's editors and reporters.

Lee embraced the recent U.S. proposal to have North Korea ''acknowledge'' U.S. concerns and evidence about its apparent efforts to enrich uranium and its suspected nuclear trading with Syria, rather than provide its own dossier on such activities, the Post said.

Lee said the solution would offer North Korea ''an indirect way to being involved in these two activities,'' therefore allowing the stalled negotiations to move forward.

Lee, a former construction chief executive nicknamed ''The Bulldozer'' for his determination to get things done, took office this year after a decade of rule in which South Korea has sought to reconcile with the North. The Bush administration has praised Lee's insistence that the North follow through on nuclear pledges before receiving aid from its southern neighbor and rival — a significant shift from his predecessor's policy.

President Bush and Lee, in two days of talks to begin Friday, will be eager to signal a new, cooperative tone as they push a reluctant Congress to ratify an ambitious free trade deal, work to settle a spat over South Korea's ban of American beef and discuss ways to persuade the North to fulfill commitments in six-nation nuclear negotiations.

North Korea has hurled a series of what Lee calls ''belligerent and bellicose'' statements about the South Korean president since he took office earlier this year.

Lee told the Post that his administration remains ''calm and collected'' about the North Korean attacks. To that end, he said, he wants to establish a permanent channel so the nations could have a regular dialogue, rather than intermittent contacts elicited by crises. He said that offices should be headed by officials with direct access to the leaders of each country.

''Between the two Koreas we need to always have dialogue going on,'' Lee told the Post. ''In the past, we had dialogue between the two Koreas whenever there was a need, and then when there wasn't a need, the dialogue would close. I don't think that is helpful in the situation.''