Powell Endorses Kim Policy

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Powell Endorses Kim Policy


WASHINGTON - On the eve of President Kim Dae-jung's summit with U.S. President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell lent support for Seoul's policy toward North Korea

"We do plan to engage with North Korea to pick up where President Clinton and his administration left off," Mr. Powell said in a joint conference held after a meeting with Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh at the State Department.

"We haven't begun that consultative process yet with the North Koreans because we thought it was important to first talk with South Korean friends," he said. He stressed that America wants to coordinate its approach with Seoul, a key U.S. ally.

Mr. Powell and Mr. Kim were to sit down to breakfast Wednesday morning (Washington time). That meeting was to kick off a series of three meetings between the foreign affairs teams of Seoul and Washington over the course of Mr. Kim's six-day visit. Mr. Kim is the first Asian and the fifth foreign leader to meet with Mr. Bush.

With the Bush administration yet to put forth an official policy stance toward North Korea, analysts in Seoul are interpreting Mr. Powell's words as endorsement, in principle, of Seoul's so-called "sunshine policy." They saw Wednesday's Kim-Bush summit in the Oval Office as an opportunity for policy coordination and cooperation.

Mr. Kim's aides said that he would brief Mr. Bush on last June's inter-Korean summit, the North Korean's leader Kim Jong-il's pending Seoul visit, and the changes taking place in the North. Mr. Bush was expected to listen more than talk, and the two leaders were to reaffirm the primacy of the traditional alliance between the two countries.

On the sensitive issue of the United States' planned national missile defense system, the two leaders were expected to discuss it under the mantle of the reaffirmed strategic alliance.

Mr. Kim's aides in Seoul said that he would "press the flesh" with Mr. Bush, as he seeks to obtain consistent support for continued rapprochement with North Korea. They said that the president, who has about two years left in office, is willing to go it alone to reach a peace declaration with North Korea.

During the three meetings, both presidents will be flanked by the core members of their foreign affairs and national security teams. tarzan@joongang.co.kr




by Kim Jin-kook / Kim Ji-soo

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