South Korean President Lee Myung-bak proposed a "grand bargain" Sept. 21 to restart disarmament negotiations and end North Korea's nuclear arms program.

Lee's proposal called for giving the North economic and political incentives, including a security guarantee, the Yonhap news agency reported.

"We must seek a packaged or 'grand bargain' resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue, in which North Korea will dismantle key elements of its nuclear programs through the six-party talks while we will simultaneously provide security guarantees and international assistance to North Korea," Lee said in a speech in New York sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations, the Korea Society and the Asia Society.

Unlike past deals, Lee called for making Pyongyang dismantle its nuclear program from the start, instead of in phases.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il reportedly expressed interest Sept. 18 in "bilateral and multilateral talks," indicating the regime could rejoin the stalled six-nation negotiations, involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan. Pyongyang pulled out of the talks to protest criticism of its rocket launch earlier this year.