Lee, Bush, Aso agree to resume six-party talks in early December

LIMA, Nov. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, U.S. President George W. Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso on Saturday agreed to resume the six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear program early next month to discuss the verification of the North's nuclear declaration and disabling of its nuclear facilities, the offices of Lee and Bush said.

The agreement was reached at a tripartite summit of the three leaders held on the
sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Peruvian
capital of Lima.
"They have it worked out and China will announce (the date). There is a sense
that this meeting will happen," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino was quoted as
saying after the three-way summit.
"We don't have a date to announce yet but there is an agreement to have a meeting
and so we're just working to make sure everyone's schedules work out before the
Chinese would announce anything as to the timing."
Bush, who met with Chinese President Hu Jintao, the host of the six-party talks,
on Friday, was to hold talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, another
participant in the deadlocked negotiations, later on Saturday.
President Lee's spokesman Lee Dong-kwan also told reporters that there is a
consensus among all participants that the North Korean nuclear problem should be
discussed within the framework of the six-party talks that involve the two
Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia.
"The agreement on the resumption of the six-party talks has yet to be finalized
and China, as the host of the process, is expected to play its remaining role,"
said spokesman Lee.
North Korea agreed in 2005 to abandon its nuclear programs in exchange for
economic and diplomatic incentives. Pyongyang, which tested a nuclear device in
2006, began disabling its nuclear facilities last year.
The U.S. removed the communist North from its terrorism blacklist in October. But
the two sides have since been at odds over the verification of North Korean
nuclear programs, with Washington insisting on strict measures to ensure
Pyongyang is not hiding any active atomic facilities.
North Korea eventually declared on Nov. 12 that it would not allow outside
inspectors to take samples from its main nuclear complex in Yongbyon.
Sample-taking is believed to be a key means of nuclear verification.
It remains uncertain whether the five countries have reached an agreement with
North Korea on the timing of the next six-party talks. But considering China is
said to be announcing the specific schedules shortly, the five nations are
believed to have fine-tuned a common understanding with the North, diplomatic
observers say.
According to spokesman Lee, Bush repeatedly stressed the principle of
"action-for-action" in dealing with North Korea, while Aso emphasized the need
for closer policy coordination among the three countries to denuclearize the
North.
The three leaders, who met one another at the Group of 20 financial summit in
Washington D.C. last week, again agreed to closely cooperate in overcoming the
ongoing global financial crisis, said the spokesman.
Notably, the Japanese leader proposed that South Korea, the U.S. and Japan
regularize their tripartite summit talks on the sidelines of the annual APEC
summit. This marked the first time in two and a half years that the three
countries have held such a summit. In November 2006, Lee's predecessor, Roh
Moo-hyun, held a three-way summit with Bush and then Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe, also on the sidelines of the APEC event.
Following the three-way summit, Lee and Bush held bilateral talks for discussions
on North Korea, the ongoing financial crisis, the long-delayed legislative
approval of the South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA) and other pending
issues.
On North Korea, President Lee denied that he supports a hawkish position towards
the North and stressed that he will wait patiently until the communist state
changes its stance, according to spokesman Lee.
Regarding the FTA issue, President Lee said, "The U.S., as an ardent advocate of
globalization and free trade, is not expected to revert to trade protectionism. I
expect that the Democratic Party and the incoming U.S. administration will
positively address the FTA issue with Korea. We'll watch it carefully."