South Korea
swore in its new president in February. President Lee Myung-Bak is the first conservative president after a series of liberal presidents. He has promised to take a harder stance on
North Korea
than previous administrations have done, and to strengthen relations with the
United States
.
Lee wants to make
South Korea
's relationship with the North more reciprocal. He says he will encourage the North to participate in nuclear talks by leveraging humanitarian aid.
So far,
North Korea
has not taken to these proposed changes.
Bruce Cumings is the Department Chair of History at the
University of Chicago
. He is the author of several books on
Korea
, including
North Korea
: Another Country and
Korea
's Place in the Sun: A Modern History.
Bruce told Jerome what President Lee's inauguration will mean for relations between North and
South Korea
.
