"Mr. President and I expressed concerns over North Korea's measures to suspend the dismantling of its nuclear facilities and agreed to maintain close cooperation to find a peaceful solution to the nuclear problem and establish stability and peace on the Korean peninsula," South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said after talks with his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev.
Accusing the United States of reneging on a pledge to strike the country off its list of state sponsors of terrorism, North Korea has expelled international monitors and said it will start to restore its Yongbyon reactor.
The reactor has been largely dismantled in return for economic aid and diplomatic incentives under the 2007 deal. The North was also to deconstruct its plutonium-producing facility.
The United States insisted Pyongyang allow international inspectors to verify all details of its nuclear program before removing it from the terrorism list.
Medvedev said Russia sought a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and urged stronger ties between the South and North.
"Russia has consistently sought to ensure a nuclear free status for the peninsula and progress at the six-party talks," the Russian president said. "We believe it is necessary to continue along a path toward the fulfillment of political, economic and humanitarian contacts between the North and South in accordance with accords reached at the 2000 and 2007 inter-Korean summits."
Relations between the two Koreas, which have not signed a peace treaty since the 1950-1953 war, took a step back when Lee said soon after coming to power last December that he would tie millions of dollars in aid to the North to its performance in halting its nuclear programs.
