North Korea has bristled at the hard-line stance, and since late last month
has expelled South Korean officials from a shared industrial complex, test-fired
missiles, and threatened to reduce the South to "ashes."
The Korean War ended in 1953 with a truce, not a peace treaty, which means
the two sides technically remain at war. Relations improved significantly under
Lee's two liberal predecessors -- Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun -- who pursued
detente with North Korea with massive aid and concessions