Bush Pushes For Consensus On N. Korea

Backs Statement By Pacific Rim Leaders; S. Korea Remains A Tough Sell

(AP)  Lobbying world leaders, President Bush lined up support Saturday for pressuring long-defiant North Korea to prove it is serious about dismantling its nuclear weapons program.

Mr. Bush used a summit of Pacific Rim countries to consult individually with leaders of the four other nations engaged with North Korea in nuclear disarmament talks, stalled for more than a year but now on the verge of resumption. Those talks were expected to win endorsement Sunday from all 21 participants in the annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

Nearly two weeks after election losses weakened his presidency, Mr. Bush faced questions from summit partners about the Democratic takeover of Congress and the message of disapproval about the Iraq war.

“He, of course, reassured them that, in terms of the foreign policy of the country, he was firm in his views and would be continuing that foreign policy along current lines,” said National Security Adviser Steve Hadley.

Mr. Bush on Saturday explored North Korea strategy with Japan's new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, a hard-liner toward Pyongyang, and with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, who has reservations about the U.S. approach.

He is expected to seek advice Sunday from the leaders of China and Russia.

In this communist country, Mr. Bush also is also expected to make a pointed effort to encourage religious tolerance. He and his wife, Laura, were to attend services Sunday at Cua Bac Church, a concrete basilica built by the French more than a century ago. They were to join about 500 worshippers, split between Catholics and Protestants.

Afterward, Mr. Bush is expected to plunge back into nuclear diplomacy. He is to meet with President Hu Jintao of China, whose country exerts more influence on North Korea than any other. The two leaders also were expected to discuss rising trade tensions between their countries and U.S. concerns about China's big military budget.

He also plans to discuss the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin. While the two have sharp differences, they are celebrating an agreement that would pave the way for Russia to join the World Trade Organization.

To Mr. Bush's delight, China and Russia support U.N. sanctions against North Korea for conducting a nuclear test Oct. 9 in defiance of world appeals. But Washington is worried that support for carrying out the sanctions might be weakened by North Korea's declaration that it is willing to return to the stalled disarmament talks.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who stressed that the world must act firmly but “extremely cautiously” in its approach to the North Korean nuclear program, said the summit statement to be issued Sunday would not go beyond — and would in fact repeat — the recent U.N. Security Council resolution on North Korea.

On Monday, Mr. Bush arrives in Indonesia for talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that will touch on the Middle East crisis and the U.S.-led invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan — the cause of mounting anger among Indonesia's 190 million Muslims.

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Read about terrorist threats that have spiked in Indonesia in advance of Mr. Bush's upcoming visit.

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In Vietnam, Mr. Bush has had virtually no public appearances or contact with locals, aside from a church visit. Hadley suggested the president was getting a feel for the country by watching people from the windows of his armored limousine as it shuttled him around town. “We're in the midst of the Vietnamese people all the time,” Hadley said.

Thirty years ago, Vietnam was a divided nation, torn apart by ideological struggle. And now, many people are comparing the Vietnam War to the war in Iraq. So how is Vietnam doing, more than 30 years after the U.S. troops pulled out?

These days, reports CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante, the Vietnamese are welcoming another kind American invasion — of investors.

“It's a fantastic place to invest,” says Tom O’Connor, who has a number of investments in Vietnam, including a wine bar and restaurant, which caters to Vietnam’s newly rich.

The country has changed greatly, especially in the past five years. But much of Vietnam is still mired in poverty.

Focused on economic problems, APEC leaders pledged major steps to resurrect WTO talks, which collapsed in July in a dispute over agricultural subsidies between the United States and Europe. They promised to make deeper reductions in farm subsidies, widen market access for agricultural goods and cut tariffs.

In his one-on-one diplomacy, Mr. Bush explored how to proceed in the negotiations with North Korea.

Hadley said the North Koreans “cannot come back just to talk,” but must show they are prepared to implement a year-old agreement to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for security guarantees and aid.

“There needs to be concrete steps toward the implementation of that agreement,” he said. “Now, what those steps will be is obviously something that will be discussed among the five of the six-party talks.”

Officials suggested that one way for North Korea to show good faith would be to invite the return of inspectors from the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency.

“We want the North Korean leaders to hear that if it gives up its weapons — nuclear weapons ambitions — that we would be willing to enter into security arrangements with the North Koreans, as well as move forward new economic incentives for the North Korean people,” Mr. Bush said after an hourlong meeting with Roh.

Mr. Bush felt that he and Abe “saw eye-to-eye” on North Korea, Hadley said. He also tried to play down differences with South Korea.

Roh said he would not join completely in the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative, a voluntary program of about 80 countries that calls for stopping ships suspected of trafficking in weapons of mass destruction. Roh, however, said Seoul supports the principles and goals of the system.

Hadley said there were special circumstances for South Korea remaining out of the program.

“But short of that, they have made clear to us ... that they fully support” the U.N. Security Council sanctions and “that they will cooperate to ensure that equipment related to weapons of mass destruction does not get into North Korea and does not get out of North Korea,” Hadley said.

[thgdriver]

One of these days you are all going to wake up and discover President Bush is not the enemy.
Bush is a moron. Bush is an as@. He's an idiot. I read it here all the time, that's fine, think and say what you want about him, you better keep an eye on those Middle East bastar$s and N. Korea, because they are going to shove an atomic bomb up you as# and light the fuse.

[azman80]

Hey Bush administration, I think we found the WMD's that went missing in Iraq. They are in North Korea. But forget about North Korea, lets keep beating up these Iraqi's for nothing. If you guys want to read websites unlike GETREAL's, check this one out.
ENJOY+ WWW.RENSE.COM

[verrz]

Okay kids, here's how it works: Take a look at the Great Seal of the United States of America; in one claw arrows, in the other an olive brace. This equals a rational and balanced approach to foreign policy. You offer an adversary a choice; choice implies the use of diplomacy, traditionally the strongest upper hand of U.S. foreign policy. This further suggests that childishly refusing to talk face to face with a certain state is counter poductive. Take a qucick scan at a Bush foreign policy success story, Libya. How did they tame big bad terrorist Kadaffi? By sitting down for one on one negotiations, that's how. Now, who out there is going to argue that Kadaffi is more trustworthy than Kim Jong-il?
So, if you get a bunch of ideologically driven nutballs in power who load that poor eagle up with arrows but not enough brains to aim them straight, then you got a receipe for global chaos.
Good thing more and more Americans are connection the dots regarding the Bush administration, as midterm elections prove.

[patriotic9]

Winstrv
Why it would be right to withdraw roops from SOUTH KOREA when NORTH KOREA was claiming herself to build NUKES which we know they gonna sell to anybody who pays price as they had built them for business reason,whereas to attack IRAQ at the same time which didn't have WMD and which allowed the UN WEAPON'S inspector to inspect and who had given the report that they didn't find any WMD.
If Bill Clinton would have attacked Iraq which had no WMDs and had no link to 9/11 and then would have ignored NORTH KOREA,he would be responsible for the CRISIS we are facing and the consequences of which we might have to see one day in the form of SIMULTANEOUS SUICIDE BOMBINGS in the major cities of UNITED STATES by the NUKES sold to OSAMA BIN LADEN by NORTH KOREA.But it was Bush who had ignored NORTH KOREAN claim of building NUKES at the same time when he was rushing to a NON-SENSE DEVASTATING WAR in IRAQ based on THOUSANDS OF YEARS OLD BIBLICAL PROPHECIES which have been proven flat wrong in this 21st century.

[peterbaldwin-2009]

In 2002 Bush waived the inspection requirements at the North Korean reactor and gave them $95,000,000 which was used to take the plutonium and make warheads.

Hadley looks as weak as Bush celebrating a watered-down statement of "worry" by the Pacific rim contries, a meaningless gesture to make Bush just go away.

Meanwhile, South Korea bided its time and now draws the line by refusing to implement the inspections of ships sanction that Rice was screaming about when her "hair was on fire".

America looks more and more like a paper tiger.

[patriotic9]

Those people who suggest SIX PATRIES TALK in case of NORTH KOREA are not dreaming but actually HALLUCINATING.Nobody cares if North Korea sells her NUKES to BIN LADEN and why should anybody cares when United States herself didn't care about that at all.
Iraq didn't have WMDs but Bush had rushed to war with the approval of majority of us Americans who were Blinded by thousands of years old NON-SENSE BIBLICAL PROPHECIES,whereas NORTH KOREA who herself was claiming to build NUKES were totally ignored and BUSH ADMINISTRATION called her claim BLUFFING.WHY?Because NORTH KOREA is so far from MIDDLE EAST that it couldn't help the second coming of CHRIST.Failure in IRAQ war is the best evidence of the FALSE-HOOD of CHRISTIANINTY,on the basis of which that war had been started and that's why BUSH had called this war CRUSADE and had told the AMERICAN PUBLIC,"In this war against Iraq,GOD is on our side".