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S. Korean President Irks Bush

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By TOM RAUM, The Associated Press

Published: September 8, 2007

SYDNEY, Australia - In an unexpected twist, President Bush's bout of diplomacy in Asia hit a snag in dealings with longtime ally South Korea and drew a conciliatory gesture from 'Axis of Evil' member North Korea.

Hours after Bush suffered an awkward moment on Friday with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun over terms for ending the Korean War, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill announced a breakthrough in efforts to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear program.

North Korea has invited nuclear experts from the United States, China and Russia into the country to survey and recommend ways of disabling all of its atomic facilities by the end of the year, Hill, the chief U.S. envoy to the communist regime, announced Friday. The team will go next week.

Hill called the overture 'another significant step toward the denuclearization' of the Korean peninsula.

Bush was wrapping up his Asia visit Friday, joining Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for breakfast in a glassed-in room on the 31st floor of a hotel overlooking the Opera House on a drizzly morning.

Bush planned to attend a final session of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and then head home from his weeklong trip.

In an unexpected confrontation, Roh publicly challenged Bush during a picture-taking session to pledge support for 'a declaration to end the Korean War.' That conflict ended in a truce in 1953, not with a peace treaty, so the two sides technically remain at war.

Bush said North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has 'got to get rid of his nuclear weapons in a verifiable fashion' for the United States to agree to sign a peace treaty. Roh told Bush he should 'be a bit clearer in your message,' and Bush shot back 'I can't make it any more clear, Mr. President.'

By coincidence or design, Hill showed up at a White House press briefing here a few hours later to announce that North Korea appeared to be following through on a promise to rid itself of all nuclear facilities capable of being used for weapons.

'This is the first time we've had real nuclear experts' from the three nuclear states in the six-party talks 'go and have a look,' Hill said.

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