They “shared the view that in the process of normalizing relations, meaningful progress should be made on improving North Korea’s human rights record."

This was the first time that a Korea-U.S. summit statement mentioned North Korean human rights conditions. In a joint press conference, Bush said, "The human rights abuses inside the country still exist and persist."

Bush revealed he had not asked Lee, as some had expected, to send fresh soldiers to Afghanistan. "The only thing I talked to him about was non-combat help,” he said. Dennis Wilder, the senior director for Asian affairs at the U.S. National Security Council, said that meant dispatch of police trainers or financial support.

U.S. President George W. Bush (L) and President Lee Myung-bak talk after their joint news conference at Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday./AFP

Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said dispatch of troops to Afghanistan was not on the agenda in the first place. “President Bush thanked Korea for having participated in building peace and reconstructing economy in Afghanistan,” Lee said. “He asked Korea to continue to participate in such tasks in the future, too."

Bush also expressed regret at the fatal shooting of a South Korean at the Mt. Kumgang resort in North Korea. "I strongly support you -- your government's request to investigate last month's shooting of a South Korean tourist,” he told Lee. "And you spoke eloquently in our meeting about how you felt when you first learned about the incident and how the people of your good country must feel when they learned the news of this woman's death."

In their communiqué, the two leaders urged North Korea to "promptly complete its commitments in the second phase of the denuclearization process and, through third-phase actions, to implement full abandonment of all its nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs."

Bush later added, "And, yes, they got a lot to do. They got to… show us a verification regime that we can trust."

The two presidents also agreed to "develop the Korea-U.S. alliance in a future-oriented way, based upon the traditional friendly relationship and mutual trust between the two nations." They "reconfirmed their strong commitment to further developing the alliance's fundamental mission through enhancing the countries' combined defense capabilities and continuing to implement the relevant agreements concerning the transition of wartime operational control and the relocation and realignment of U.S. Forces in Korea."

They also reached accord on a visa program titled "Work, English Study and Travel (WEST)" program, which will allow up to 5,000 Korean students per year to study and work in the U.S. for 18 months, starting early 2009. They agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in space and aviation technology, including Korea's participation in NASA's International Lunar Network project and joint research and experiments at the international space station.

(englishnews@chosun.com )