A diplomatic source in Washington on Sunday said president-elect Obama will probably give top priority to overcoming the economic crisis and subordinate all other foreign policy issues to this. “So it doesn't seem likely that the North Korean nuclear issue will get a high priority in the Obama administration,” he added.

In the first press conference last Friday after his election, Obama made clear his intention to devote all his energies to overcoming the U.S. economic crisis. In an interview with the Chosun Ilbo, Eni Faleomavaega, chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global Environment of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said among various important foreign policy issues, overcoming the economic crisis will be Obama’s top priority.

Obama has promised to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq and augment troops in Afghanistan. Since close cooperation with Pakistan, a staunch ally in the Bush administration’s “war on terror” under Pervez Musharraf, have been somewhat shaken after Ali Zardari took power in Islamabad, Obama has shown more interest in the country's campaign to fight Islamist insurgents.

Some officials at the U.S. Statement Department and the Korean Embassy in Washington speculate that the Obama administration will put the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea about fourth on their foreign policy agenda.

(englishnews@chosun.com )