SEOUL - SOUTH Korea's president would welcome a meeting between US President-elect Barack Obama and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il if it could reduce tension on the peninsula over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, a news report said.

'It would be a good thing' for Mr Obama to meet Mr Kim if it helps get the North to give up its nuclear programs, President Lee Myung Bak told South Korean reporters in Washington on Sunday after the Group of 20 summit, according to Yonhap news agency.

Mr Lee's office in Seoul was not immediately available to confirm the report.

Mr Obama said during his election campaign that he would be willing to hold direct talks with North Korea - including possibly meeting with the country's absolute leader Mr Kim.

Tension on the Korean peninsula has intensified since Mr Lee's pro-US, conservative government took office in February with a pledge to get tougher on the North. The North cut off reconciliation talks in retaliation.

President George W. Bush's administration - which labelled North Korea part of the 'axis of evil' - had refused direct talks.

However, Mr Bush later softened that stance, sending envoys to Pyongyang and removing North Korea from a list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Mr Lee said Mr Obama told him in a telephone conversation after his election that he would 'closely consult and cooperate with South Korea' in dealing with the North's nuclear programs.

Mr Lee also demanded that North Korea scrap its nuclear programs to end its international isolation, saying the entire world would not accept a unified Korea with a nuclear weapon.

North Korea has agreed to give up its nuclear weapons in return for international aid, but it has resisted Washington's attempts to put in place strict measures to ensure Pyongyang is not hiding any active atomic programs.

Last week, the North said it would not allow outside inspectors to take samples from its main nuclear complex to verify the communist regime's accounting of past nuclear activities.

The North's Mr Kim has been the focus of global media speculation as he reportedly suffered a stroke and underwent a brain surgery in August. North Korea has denied the speculation, releasing a slew of news reports and photos portraying Kim as active and healthy. -- AP