President Obama and Lee Myung-bak, the president of South Korea, will meet today, and one figure—not present—will loom over their discussions. Kim Jong-il's increasingly provocative behavior has rattled the world, and observers expect Obama and Lee to present a united front against the rogue state of North Korea. It is expected that both will reaffirm their hard-line stance that any aid to North Korea be tied to progress on nuclear disarmament talks. Yet there is a less-pressing issue that may lead to some debate between the two heads of state, as a free trade agreement between the two nations signed during the Bush era is being reexamined by Obama. South Korea is not too keen to renegotiate the terms of the deal, which Obama feels are too much in their favor.
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