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Full nine months have passed since President Roh Moo-hyun and U.S. President George W. Bush last spoke on the phone, giving rise to speculation that the two heads of state have nothing to say to each other.
Their last conversation was on Sept. 20 last year, the day after six-nation talks in Beijing produced a statement of principles whereby North Korea agreed to give up its nuclear program. Roh called Bush for what was their 12th phone conversation. The Korean president was then in his 31st month in office, making for a chat between the two leaders approximately every 2.6 months. They appeared to hold close consultations whenever major issues came up. But since then, nothing.
More than a month has now passed since tensions started to build up over what the U.S. says is North Korea's imminent test launch of a ballistic missile, but the presidents have not discussed this. Meanwhile, Bush called Chinese President Hu Jintao two weeks ago to ask him to use his influence in the North to stop the missile launch, according to the June 17 New York Times.
Bush talks to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi so often on the phone that it no longer generates media attention. He is to send his own presidential jet for Koizumi when the premier visits the U.S. According to Japanese media, the pair talked on the phone for 10 minutes on May 31 to discuss the future of their bilateral alliance. Bush reportedly starts his day by conducting phone conversations with leaders around the world.
Roh and Bush met in Gyeongju last November, but that was on the sidelines of the APEC summit here rather than in a separate forum.
The silence between the two presidents suggests a fundamental rift in the two allies¡¯ policies. It was only recently, after all, that the Foreign Ministry's special envoy on international security, Moon Chung-in, said, "President Roh is losing patience with President Bush.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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