Summit with U.S. to feature the North

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Summit with U.S. to feature the North

President Lee Myung-bak yesterday departed for a summit in Washington with U.S. President Barack Obama to coordinate efforts to resolve North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats. Lee is also set to talk with other key U.S. officials on trade and economy.

“With unprecedented global economic turmoil, the security crisis is intensifying from North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats,” said President Lee in a radio speech yesterday before his departure.

The summit scheduled for today comes three days after the North declared it would produce additional nuclear weapons and acknowledged that it has a uranium enrichment program. U.S. intelligence has long suspected the existence of the second route to an atomic bomb.

The North’s action was a defiant response to the UN Security Council’s resolution a day before imposing sanctions on the country’s weapons dealings and financial transactions. The second nuclear test by the North on May 25 prompted the action.

After arriving in Washington on Monday afternoon, local time, Lee is set to meet with U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk. Later in the day the president will also have talks with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

On Tuesday morning, the two presidents will have a summit talk at the Oval Office. Lee had a two-day summit with Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, at Camp David near Washington in April of last year, becoming the first Korean president to visit the U.S. presidential retreat.

Both Lee and Bush reaffirmed that they wouldn’t allow North Korea to possess nuclear weapons.

Lee and Obama are also expected to discuss the long-pending bilateral free trade agreement.

They agreed on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in London in April to “chart a way forward,” in the face of claims by some in the U.S. Congress that the deal clinched in June 2007 is unfair for the American auto and beef industries.

The Korean National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee passed a bill in late April to ratify the government’s free trade agreement with the United States, sending it to a plenary session for final approval.

Following talks, the leaders of the two allies are set to declare the “joint vision for the ROK-U.S. alliance,” and an “extended deterrence” - a broader defense mechanism including a nuclear umbrella.

Although both countries agreed on the plan three years ago, it has neither been committed to in writing nor officially declared by the nations’ respective presidents.

The joint press conference is scheduled for the Rose Garden on the West Wing of the White House and five U.S. broadcasters, including CNN, will air the event live. A luncheon will follow at the family dining room inside the presidential residence.

On Wednesday, the last day of his U.S. visit, Lee will receive an honorary doctorate degree from George Washington University and give a speech on his “global Korea and green growth vision.” His return is scheduled for Thursday afternoon, Korean time.


By Seo Ji-eun [spring@joongang.co.kr]
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