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In his first State of the Union address since his re-election, U.S. President George W. Bush said on Wednesday he was working with governments in Asia to convince North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions.
"We're cooperating with 60 governments in the Proliferation Security Initiative, to detect and stop the transit of dangerous materials... There are still regimes seeking weapons of mass destruction -- but no longer without attention and without consequence," Bush told a joint session of Congress. He made no direct references to reports in the U.S. media a day earlier that North Korea exported nuclear materials to Libya.
Bush defied expectations when these remained the only direct or indirect references to North Korea during his 50-minute speech. He steered clear of provocative terminology in relation to Pyongyang, in marked contrast to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who has included North Korea among ¡°outposts of tyranny.¡±
Observers offer several interpretations of this unusual restraint. Some believe it is indicative of Bush's intention to focus his efforts on the Middle East. Larry A. Niksch, an Asia specialist with the Congressional Research Service, said the North Korean nuclear issue had been pushed way down in the Bush administration's list of priorities. He predicted that the White House would start a full-scale response around June.
Others say Bush largely skirted the issue because Washington is sensitive to the positions of South Korea and China. Neither Korea nor China, two states whose cooperation is indispensable for a solution to Pyongyang¡¯s nuclear issue, want to provoke North Korea. Bush on several occasions stressed he would not pursue foreign policy goals like the ¡°war on terror¡± without consulting friends and allies, a promise in line with the president¡¯s declared intention to seek solutions through diplomacy and dialogue. Most diplomatic experts, however, believe that Washington¡¯s fundamental views of the North Korean issue have not changed.
The Korean Foreign Ministry praised the address as an expression of the desire to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue in a peaceful and diplomatic way. In a statement, the ministry also said it was time to quickly reconvene the six-party talks with the North's participation and bring about palpable progress in solving the nuclear issue.
(Heo Yong-beom, heo@chosun.com )
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