Obama presses DPRK to drop planned rocket launch South Korean President Lee Myung-bak (R) and U.S. President Barack Obama attend a joi...

Obama presses DPRK to drop planned rocket launch

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak (R) and U.S. President Barack Obama attend a joint news conference after holding talks at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, South Korea, on March 25, 2012. Obama arrived in South Korea to attend the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit which will be held on March 26-27. (Xinhua/pool)

SEOUL, March 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barak Obama on Sunday pressed the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to drop its plan to launch a rocket, saying the move could scuttle a food aid deal and dim prospects for resuming disarmament talks.

"North Korea (DPRK) will achieve nothing by threats or provocations," Obama said during a press conference in Seoul after talks with his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-bak.

The talks was held on the eve of the two-day Nuclear Security Summit.

While the DPRK claimed the launch will abide by international norms and blasts its critics for continuing "hostile policy" toward Pyongyang, South Korea and the United States see the move as a plan to test a long-range missile that could possibly carry nuclear weapons.

Washington has warned the planned launch can potentially scrap a recently pledged food aid deal with Pyongyang.

It will be "difficult" to provide nutritional assistance in time of tension, Obama said, voicing skepticism over whether aid would reach its intended beneficiaries.

The launch can put a damper on prospects for resuming six-party talks aimed at ridding the DPRK of its nuclear program, Obama said.

The talks, last held in 2008, also involve China, Japan and Russia.

Earlier in the day, the U.S. president paid his first-ever visit to the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in a symbolic move meant to highlight Washington's security commitment to its ally.

On Monday, the U.S. leader is scheduled to join the Seoul summit, a sequel to the inaugural Washington summit in 2010 where he set the goal of securing the world's loose nuclear materials by 2014.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak (R, center) and U.S. President Barack Obama (L, center) hold talks at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, South Korea, on March 25, 2012. Obama arrived in South Korea to attend the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit which will be held on March 26-27. (Xinhua/pool)