DAY BREAK 06:00 N. Korea asked for rice in return for inter-Korean summit

DAY BREAK 06:00 Coming up on this Thursday edition of Day Break,... in an upcoming book release, former South Korean president Lee Myung-bak says North Korea offered his administration an inter-Korean summit and an apology for the Cheonan sinking in return for food aid. The chief nuclear envoys of the United States and Japan throw their support behind Seoul′s efforts to improve its relations with North Korea. Plus,... Jordan offers to free an Iraqi prisoner for a Jordanian pilot held by Islamic State after the group threatens to kill the pilot and a Japanese hostage. The fate of both men remains unclear. Day Break begins now. Hello.... and thanks for joining us. To our viewers around the world, it′s 6 a.m. on Thursday, January twenty-ninth here in Seoul. I′m Mark Broome... and you′re tuned into Day Break. Title: N. Korea asked for rice in return for inter-Korean summit, warship apology: former S. Korean President We begin with that revelation by former president Lee Myung-bak. The previous South Korean leader says that, in July 2010,... North Korea offered to hold an inter-Korean summit and issue an apology over the deadly torpedo attack on a South Korean warship IF Seoul gave it half-a-million tons of rice. The extract was reported by Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency ahead of the release next week of Lee′s 800-page memoir on his presidency. The former president said he refused the offer because it would have been under Pyongyang′s terms, and he wasn′t comfortable with it. Lee added... that the North′s planned statement on the Cheonan warship sinking would have just been a general apology,.. not an acceptance of its responsibility and an apology. Lee also said he strongly pressured China... to enforce international sanctions against Pyongyang after the deadly sinking. Lee′s book "President′s Time" is set to hit shelves next Monday. Title: U.S., Japan express support for S. Korea′s efforts for inter-Korean dialogue The chief nuclear envoys of the United States and Japan have expressed their support for South Korea′s efforts to improve inter-Korean relations. Following a trilateral meeting in Tokyo on Wednesday,... South Korea′s chief nuclear envoy Hwang Joon-kook said they agreed on the need for a strong signal from the North about its sincerity toward denuclearization,... in order to resume the stalled six-party nuclear talks. The multilateral dialogue involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia has been stalled since late 2008. Title: U.S. diplomats visit S. Korea for N. Korea talks South Korean and U.S. diplomats will meet for talks in Seoul today with the main focus on North Korea. The U.S. State Department′s Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman is going to be sitting down with South Korea′s Vice Foreign Minister, Cho Tae-yong , later this morning to discuss bilateral and inter-Korean issues, such as North Korea′s refusal to answer the South′s offer for high-leve