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President Roh Moo-hyun leaves Seoul for the United States on Thursday to meet with his American counterpart there on Saturday. It will be the fourth Korea-U.S. summit of his administration.
The upcoming meeting is expected to focus on joint measures to tackle the North Korean nuclear problem. There are many issues that threaten our relationship with the U.S., but the nuclear dispute is too urgent to allow them to be discussed now.
Our foreign affairs officials say the summit ¡°will reaffirm the principle of resolving the North Korean nuclear issue peacefully and diplomatically." Usually such official announcements are made once a summit is over, but never mind.
What is more important is what will not be announced, and whether the two leaders¡¯ tete-a-tete will be conducted in a substantive and meaningful manner. The U.S. appears to have proposed the summit because it wants to hear what President Roh really thinks about the North's nuclear program, and because it wants him to hear President George W. Bush's innermost thoughts.
Pyongyang, meanwhile, has sent an ambiguous signal: we¡¯ll come back to the talks but we won¡¯t say when. There are a series of complex and delicate developments ahead in the nuclear dispute where an abstract principle like a "peaceful and diplomatic resolution" alone will not be enough. If Seoul and Washington are to deal with these developments in a framework of firm mutual cooperation, the two heads of state must know what the other truly thinks. That is where this weekend¡¯s significance lies.
It needs frankness. The two presidents and their aides should not become too ardently attached to the idea of issuing a statement afterwards to the effect that no difference of views existed. The whole world knows that there are differences over North Korea between Seoul and Washington; that cannot be concealed however hard they may try. Instead, the two presidents must use this summit to confirm areas where they cannot agree as well as areas where they can, and where they can make a commitment to work together.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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