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| China-Japan-Koreas | |
| Roh, Bush put new pressure on N.K. | |
| 2005-06-11 | |
| The Washington summit early today between Presidents Roh Moo-hyun and George W. Bush heralded new pressure on North Korea to return immediately to the six-party talks and surrender its nuclear weapons ambitions. Roh arrived in Washington yesterday and quickly launched into his packed schedule, meeting Bush in the White House Oval Office. The hour-long meeting, followed by a luncheon, was their fourth summit in the past two years. Without drawing up a joint-statement, Roh and Bush also arranged a short news briefing. The vital summit of the two key allies came as North Korea showed hints of yielding from its stubborn refusal to return to the six-party talks but has yet to fix a date. By reconfirming their will to peacefully and diplomatically solve the nuclear problem, the two leaders were sending a stern message to North Korea to make a progressive move toward ending the standoff, a high-ranking South Korean government official said. The two leaders also agree Pyongyang must not possess any kind of nuclear weapons, putting more strong pressure on North Korea as it has been stepping up its claims to have developed nuclear weapons and arms. The summit, arranged ahead of their scheduled meeting in Korea this November during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, also focused on cementing cracks that emerged recently due to South Korea's new ambition to become Northeast Asia's balancer, a role that would reflect Korea's increasing diplomatic independency. Roh and Bush, however, refrained from highlighting any alternative measures against North Korea should it continue to refuse to come back to the negotiating table with the United States, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia. Roh and Bush also agreed active inter-Korean relations would be a highly useful tool to bring North Korea back to the six-party talks and solve the nuclear problem.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 We'll say pretty please with extra double sugar on top. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2005-06-11 11:46 |
| #1 Right, right. And we'll put even more pressure by withdrawing another Brigade ahead of the previous schedule! [Quicker, quicker] Oh, and we'll send Alec Baldwin to talk to them too! Nice to have known you! Have a nice day! |
| Posted by: Hupolutle Gliting8009 2005-06-11 10:22 |