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White House spokesman Tony Snow said in a briefing Monday that U.S. President George W. Bush had spoken with the leaders of at least 10 countries about North Korea¡¯s rumored imminent test-launch of a long-range missile.
Snow did not say which leaders Bush has spoken to, but no call came for South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun. According to reports in the press, Bush spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. But the president of the country closest to the issue was left out.
Bush and Roh have gone nine months without talking since a phone call on Sept. 20 last year. That includes the time since the U.S. first detected what it says was activity related to the missile launch at the beginning of May. During that time, the two sides offered their standard comment, that everything about the Korea-U.S. alliance is in tip-top shape.
Seoul says Bush apparently did not call all 10 heads of state. "After confirming the matter with the U.S., we were told that there was a miscommunication and that between Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, and Deputy National Security Advisor Crouch, calls to some 10 countries were made," a government official said. The White House did not explain the matter directly.
"There is the kind of talk that heads of state have when they meet, and there is the kind of talk that they have on the phone, and there is the talk between heads of state and advisors," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Jung Tae-ho said, "Discussions between Korea and the U.S. are proceeding well through a variety of channels." Jung said this meant generally the foreign minister, the Cheong Wa Dae security secretary, and the senior secretary for security, all of whom did speak to their U.S. counterparts.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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