President Lee Myung-bak and US President Barack Obama agreed on June 16 to take joint measures to respond to the North Korean nuclear threat, sharing an understanding that a nuclear North Korea is unacceptable.

At the summit held in the White House on Tuesday, Presidents Lee and Obama held a 50-minute long meeting and held a joint press conference in the Rose Garden.

At the joint press conference, President Lee said the two leaders affirmed that North Korean nuclear weapons cannot be accepted, and they agreed to take effective measures in cooperation with the other members of the Six-party Talks in order to make Pyongyang give up its nuclear armaments, based on the close Korea-US alliance. President Obama also said Pyongyang's track record of proliferation makes it unacceptable for North Korea to be a nuclear power.

At the summit, the two leaders adopted the “Joint Vision for the Alliance of the Republic of Korea and the United States” and declared that the two countries will work together to achieve the complete and verifiable elimination of North Korea's nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs, as well as ballistic missile programs, and to promote respect for the fundamental human rights of the North Korean people.

The two leaders also said in the statement that both countries "will maintain a robust defense posture, backed by allied capabilities that support both nations' security interests," and added that, "the continuing commitment of extended deterrence, including the US nuclear umbrella, reinforces this assurance."

Regarding the Korea-US free trade agreement, President Lee and US President Obama said in the statement that the two countries "will continue to deepen our strong bilateral economic, trade and investment relations," and "recognize that the Korea-US(KORUS) Free Trade Agreement could further strengthen these ties and we are committed to working together to chart a way forward."

The two presidents further shared an understanding that stability and reconstruction are important for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and they agreed to keep helping rebuild these countries.

President Lee also asked President Obama to make a reciprocal visit to Korea as soon as possible.