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Bush wants to get N. Korea nuke talks going
US President Bush plans to urge allies at an Asia-Pacific summit in Chile this weekend to press North Korea to return to stalled talks over its nuclear weapons program, senior U.S. officials said on Wednesday.
The United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia have been trying for more than two years to persuade North Korea to drop its nuclear programs, but the talks have been inconclusive. North Korea declined to attend a meeting in September and was believed to be waiting to see whether Bush was defeated for re-election by Democratic Sen. John Kerry, who had vowed to hold direct talks with Pyongyang if he won. North Korea said last week an early resumption of the six-nation talks would be difficult and that it was waiting to gauge the post-election mood of the United States. Bush will attempt to revive the negotiations when he goes to Santiago, Chile, on Friday for the annual summit of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. He will also press Pacific rim leaders for agreement on security initiatives to combat terrorism and weapons of mass destruction at the APEC meeting, officials said. Despite hopes in the region that the U.S. would shift its focus to trade and economics, senior administration officials said the United States would urge APEC to take new steps on security issues that have overshadowed the forum's agenda since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Bush will discuss North Korea nuclear issues in separate meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, and possibly with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Weapons Program "This is an opportunity to use the meetings to start getting down to the business of getting North Korea to give up its weapons programs," said a senior administration official. Amid reports that U.S. hard-liners are pressing for a more coercive approach if the talks make no progress, Roh said in Los Angeles last Friday the United States should try dialogue with North Korea rather than take a hard-line approach. "The countries involved, particularly China, need to do everything they can themselves to get North Korea to come to the talks," Australian Foreign Minister Alexander told Reuters in Santiago. "We'll obviously have an opportunity at APEC if not to put pressure on them at least to talk extensively about this issue," said Downer, who brought a nuclear non-proliferation proposal to APEC. In Santiago, China's Assistant Foreign Minister Shen Guofang told Reuters the Korea nuclear issue would be discussed at an informal meeting of foreign ministers at APEC but should not be a matter for discussion by the entire summit. Asked about comments from Chinese and South Korean officials suggesting Washington should be more flexible, senior U.S. officials said they did not see a split brewing. "I think if you look at the totality of what the Chinese and the ROK (South Korea) officials and leaders are saying, and if you, from our perspective, hear what they're saying in the talks themselves, we don't see a split. We still have more work to do, there's no doubt about that," one official said.
He said the key is to get the North Koreans to respond to the last U.S. proposal, which he said eliminates all North Korean nuclear weapons but opens up possibilities for Pyongyang to enjoy better relations with the United States. |
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