The scheduled summit between Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington on June 11 will in some significant particulars differ from previous meetings, according to a Korean official because the results would be difficult to predict. Perhaps because of this, the two governments took the unprecedented step of scheduling no joint statement or press conference.
A high-ranking government official said Tuesday the two leaders would agree to the larger principle of resolving the North Korean nuclear issue peacefully and diplomatically. "If you put yourself in North Korea's shoes, it's true that the U.S. has sent confusing signals whether it will resolve the nuclear dispute through negotiations or by other meansˇ± such as sanctions, the official said. ˇ°If President Bush reaffirms his intention [to resolve it through dialogue] during this summit, it would become a good opportunity for the restart of the six-party talks."
On the other hand, he said it would also be an opportunity to test whether North Korea really means to discuss abandoning its nuclear programs. In other words, if Bush went the distance and North Korea still didn't respond, Seoul could change direction. This is also why some within the government expect there to be discussion of "other means" in the event there is no solution to the nuclear dispute. The U.S. will very likely ask for Korea's thoughts on a solution apart from negotiations.
A high-ranking Foreign Ministry official admitted concerns over differences in opinion between Korea and the U.S. ˇ°These issues have been generally dealt with through talks between the defense ministers and vice ministers, so they won't be a major agenda during the presidential summit,ˇ± he said.
In matters like an operational plan for contingencies in North Korea or ˇ°strategic flexibilityˇ± for the U.S. Forces in Korea, both of which Seoul initially opposed, progress has been made in bilateral working-level talks. Given the urgency of the North Korea issue, Washington will also probably seek to paper over cracks in the alliance and avoid raising spiky problems.
But a diplomatic source in Korea said the U.S. still wants to hear directly from President Roh what the Korean government fundamentally thinks about the Korea-U.S. alliance. Bush is said to be particularly curious to hear Roh's thoughts on the ˇ°balancer roleˇ± Seoul is proposing for Korea in Northeast Asia.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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