"I don't deny it," said Mr Lee when asked during a live television interview if progress at forthcoming talks could lead to a summit between the two leaders. "We can have a summit if needed." North-South summits were last held in 2002 and 2007, but relations soured after President Lee took office in 2008 ending a decade of aid to the North – the so-called 'Sunshine Policy' – and refusing to negotiate with Pyongyang as long as it refused to give up its nuclear arsenal.