http://news.yam.com/afp/international/200804/20080425071653.html
涉嫌暗助敘利亞 日要求北韓和盤托出核計畫
法新社╱劉學源 2008-04-25 21:20     
 
 
（法新社東京二十五日電）在美國指控北韓協助敘利亞秘密興建核子反應爐後，日本今天要求平壤當局和盤托出其核子計畫。日本表示，這類指控勢必會打擊到已延擱的旨在終結北韓核武計畫協議。

在聽取美國駐日本大使西佛針對美方這項指控作簡報後，日本外相高村正彥表示，「北韓和敘利亞之間的合作，令人非常遺憾。」

北韓先前未依六方會談協議，於去年底前申報其全部核子計畫，當時美方指控它擴散核子技術給敘利亞以及秘密提煉濃縮鈾，但北韓否認。

高村說：「如今美國已掌握到此事，我們也知悉此事，這能迫使北韓當局承認，以及針對申報問題向他們施壓。」

日本首相福田康夫也對北韓和敘利亞合作表示憂心。福田在啟程前往莫斯科訪問前表示，「如果存在這種關係，我擔心它會是重大問題，我們必須不計任何代價，透過六方會談解決此一問題。」福田並稱，他可能會在莫斯科討論這個議題。

美國昨天指控敘利亞在北韓協助下秘密興建一座核子反應爐，並稱該設施於去年九月遭以色列空襲摧毀前，具有軍事用途。

美國媒體暗示，刻意選在此時機提出這類指控，可能是布希政府內保守派，意圖對過度軟弱的六方會談協議澆冷水。

日本一向是對六方會談採取最強烈批判立場的國家。在解決北韓間諜綁架日本國民問題前，日本拒絕對北韓提供任何援助。

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=auYt5vIZhhjw
North Korea Talks May Survive Syria Report, U.S. Says (Update4)

By Janine Zacharia and Jeff Bliss

April 25 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. officials and lawmakers said that nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea may go forward even as the Bush administration accused the regime in Pyongyang of helping Syria build a secret nuclear reactor.

While President George W. Bush's spokeswoman, Dana Perino, described North Korea's assistance to Syria as a ``dangerous manifestation'' of proliferation, she said the best way to stop such behavior by Kim Jong Il's government is to press ahead with the disarmament diplomacy. Democratic lawmakers backed that view.

``Some will argue that North Korea's assistance to Syria is cause to end the six-party talks,'' Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement. ``To the contrary, it underscores the need for pursuing the talks, which remain our best chance to convince North Korea to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons and to stop proliferation.''

The question of North Korea's nuclear assistance to Syria has dogged negotiators for months, threatening to scuttle a diplomatic effort involving China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the U.S. The countries are trying to get North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program in exchange for improved political ties and economic assistance.

The U.S. declaration of North Korea's proliferation may obviate the need for a North Korean disclosure, almost four months overdue, improving the chances for talks to proceed on dismantling the program. Chief U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill has been searching for a way out of the impasse.

`Full Disclosure'

``There's clearly a discussion going on within the administration about what is required from the North Koreans in terms of full disclosure, and whether they can accept a statement from the North Koreans which is `we didn't do it but we'll never do it again,''' said Martin Indyk, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel now at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

The public release of photos of the Syrian desert site now may prod North Korea to give a full accounting of its nuclear activities, a senior administration official told reporters in a briefing with intelligence officials.

The U.S. also released a computer animation that depicted pipelines running from the Euphrates River to an underground cooling pool next to the building.

Proliferation Negotiations

``We have made effective use of this information in the context of the'' six-nation negotiations, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters in Washington today. ``Certainly, at a minimum, it has laid down a very clear line in terms of a declaration, what is required in terms of their proliferation activities.''

Until yesterday, when U.S. intelligence officials showed lawmakers and reporters their evidence, American officials had been silent on the possible North Korea connection. Syria said last year that Israeli warplanes had carried out a raid on its territory. Israeli officials refused to discuss the matter.

Two senior U.S. intelligence officials and a senior administration official told reporters that Syria had a reactor that was close to being operational in August 2007, a month before Israel destroyed the complex in an air strike.

``We are convinced, based on a variety of information, that North Korea assisted Syria's covert nuclear activities,'' Perino said in a statement. ``We have good reasons to believe that reactor, which was damaged beyond repair on Sept. 6 of last year, was not intended for peaceful purposes.''

Plutonium for Weapons

The officials, who asked not to be identified, said they concluded the reactor was intended to produce plutonium for weapons because the facility wasn't designed to produce electricity or to conduct research.

The U.S. and its six-party partners will establish a ``rigorous verification mechanism to ensure that such conduct and other nuclear activities have ceased,'' the White House said in a statement.

The intelligence officials said they didn't have sufficient evidence to prove the existence of a weapons program, including a reprocessing facility that would be needed to produce a weapon. Also, they said the reactor at the Syrian site didn't have nuclear fuel in it.

The United Nations nuclear agency said it received information yesterday from the U.S. alleging the destroyed building had contained a reactor, and promised to investigate its veracity with the ``seriousness it deserves.''

Delay Criticized

International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei ``deplores'' the delay in handing over the information, the Vienna-based IAEA said today in an e-mailed statement.

ElBaradei also views ``unilateral use of force by Israel as undermining the due process of verification,'' the agency said.

Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said today that North Korea's cooperation with Syria is ``regrettable'' and the evidence will help pressure North Korea to fully declare its nuclear program. Komura made the statement after meeting with the U.S. ambassador to Japan, J. Thomas Schieffer.

Syria's ambassador to the U.S., Imad Moustapha, called the facility an ordinary military building and described the administration's allegations as ``silly'' and a ``fantasy.'' Speaking to CNN, Moustapha said the Bush administration ``has a proven record of fabricating'' evidence on other countries' weapons of mass destruction. He referred to faulty evidence of Iraq's weapons programs.

Nuclear Rules Violated

The White House said in the statement that Syria violated the rules by not informing the IAEA of the reactor's construction and by covering it up after the facility was destroyed.

Howard Berman, the California Democrat who heads the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called the alleged Syria-North Korea nuclear relationship ``disturbing.'' He also said, ``I don't think they provide a reason to suspend discussions with the North Koreans.''

Joseph Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund, a Washington-based group that opposes nuclear proliferation, said the Bush administration released the information under pressure from Republicans skeptical about North Korea's intentions.

The administration is trying ``to get it done so it doesn't come out later'' at a more critical moment, such as when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is preparing to sign an agreement, he said.

Representative Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the top Republican on the House Select Committee on Intelligence, said that ``by waiting so long'' to brief Congress, the Bush administration ``has made it much more difficult'' to get congressional approval for any agreement with North Korea.

Hoekstra, speaking to reporters after he was briefed, said ``a trusting environment between the administration and Congress does not exist.''

The Bush administration briefed 22 House and Senate members on the Syrian-North Korean connection last year, including Hoekstra, ``consistent with our obligations,'' Perino said.

http://news.yam.com/afp/international/200804/20080425070155.html
美議員：敘利亞事件使六方會談協議岌岌可危
法新社╱簡長盛 2008-04-25 10:50     
 
 
（法新社華盛頓二十四日電）美國國會議員今天說，美國指責北韓協助敘利亞建造核子反應爐，有可能破壞六方會談協議。在這項協議中，強硬派的北韓同意結束發展核子武器。

眾議院情報委員會議員在聽取中央情報局官員的閉門簡報後，作出上述表示。該簡報為北韓協助敘利亞建立核子反應爐的傳聞，核子反應爐的建造地點於去年九月遭到以色列空襲炸燬。

民主黨籍的情報委員會主席雷耶斯和委員會共和黨領袖胡克斯特拉，都對布希政府在以色列攻擊事件發生後八個月才提出簡報表示憤怒。

胡克斯特拉說：「等了那麼久才到國會山莊向情報委員會和其他委員會簡報，布希政府讓整個情勢變得更加困難，假如他們真的在六方會談上達成某種協議，協議將更難在國會通過。」

他說：「因為他們已真的傷害到府會關係，這讓人非常失望，但這確實是我們今天不斷從委員會委員聽到的意見。」

胡克斯特拉並且說：「這將危及政府使用在六方會議中可能已達成或未能達成的協議進程。」

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080424/wl_mideast_afp/nkoreanuclearweaponsussyria_080424202057
US charges NKorea-Syria nuclear link

by Olivier Knox
Thu Apr 24, 4:20 PM ET
 

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The White House and the CIA told key lawmakers in secret Thursday that North Korea helped Syria build a nuclear reactor at a site destroyed by an Israeli raid in September, officials said.

Washington also took its case to the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), alleging that Damascus violated its obligations under the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a US official said.

In Congress, top US officials laid out the charges -- which Syria flatly denied -- behind closed doors in a video presentation that includes photographs of the facility, a top US official said on condition of anonymity.

Another US official, who also requested not to be named, said the reactor could have produced plutonium, potentially to feed nuclear weapons, but was destroyed before it ever began to operate.

Syria denounced the charges, with its ambassador to the United States pointedly linking the supposed US evidence to Washington's weapons-of-mass-destruction case for invading Iraq.

The allegations were certain to roil six-country diplomatic efforts to get North Korea to come clean on its nuclear and proliferation activities and abandon its atomic ambitions in return for diplomatic and economic rewards.

They could also have dramatic repercussions for Syria, an ally of US archfoe Iran, and a frequent target of fierce US criticisms over its influence in Lebanon and charges of letting Islamist fighters into Iraq.

The briefing highlighted "a serious proliferation issue both in the Middle East and the country that may be involved in Asia," Representative Pete Hoekstra said.

And he said Pyongyang had to answer the US allegations before it could be removed from a blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism.

"We would expect to have good, clear, verifiable information from the countries that are involved before steps like that would be taken by the administration," Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters.

Senior lawmakers Howard Berman and Joseph Biden, the Democratic heads of the House and Senate foreign relations committees respectively, said the six-party talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons drive should continue despite charges of North Korea-Syria nuclear cooperation.

"I don't think they provide a reason to suspend discussions with the North Koreans," Berman said.

White House officials declined to discuss the impact of the revelations on the North Korean diplomacy, or to restate President George W. Bush's repeated warnings that he viewed any such activities by North Korea as "a grave threat" with ominous "consequences."

They also sidestepped questions on whether the alleged activities needed to be included in a formal "declaration" that North Korea had been due to provide by December 31, 2007 but is still the subject of hard-fought negotiations.

Bush, who is eager for a final resolution of the nuclear crisis before he leaves office in January 2009, was not expected to comment publicly, and the White House offered only spare information.

"There are (Capitol) Hill briefings ongoing today regarding the North Korean-Syria matter that you've been reading about in the newspapers," said spokeswoman Dana Perino, who promised a formal statement later in the day.

National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and CIA chief Michael Hayden were seen going into a joint meeting of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, the first of several key panels briefed.

"In regards to a videotape, I'll let the intelligence community talk about that," said Perino, in reference to news reports about the centerpiece of the briefings.

A US official, requesting anonymity, told AFP: "There are still photographs of the facility as part of the video, but it's a video presentation, like a Powerpoint presentation. It's not a video of the facility."

The New York Times and The Washington Post, had earlier cited unnamed senior US officials saying a video showing North Koreans inside the Syrian reactor would be shown at the hearings.

The Syrian reactor is said to appear to be identical in design to a North Korean reactor at Yongbyon.

Thursday's briefings come after months of questions over an Israeli airstrike in September on a mystery target widely reported to have been a fledgling nuclear site.

http://news.yam.com/afp/international/200804/20080425068680.html
率團赴北韓談判核武 美官員稱會談狀況良好
法新社╱F60樊劍萍 2008-04-25 01:50    
 
 
（法新社首爾二十四日電）本週前往平壤就北韓核武計畫進行談判的美國代表團領隊金成今天說，這是「一次良好的訪問。」

任職於美國國務院的金成在率團往訪北韓兩天後，於此地告訴記者，「我只能告訴你們，我們進行了一次良好的訪問，我們進行了非常實質性的討論。」

北韓也宣布，此次會談已取得進展。北韓外交部發言人告訴官方中央通信社，雙方會談是以「誠懇與建設性」的方式進行。

與北韓通報核武問題有關的爭執，已阻撓六國裁軍協議的執行。

http://news.yam.com/afp/international/200804/20080424068361.html
北韓聲稱 與美國核子會談獲致進展
法新社╱樊劍萍 2008-04-24 20:05     
 
 
（法新社首爾二十四日電）北韓今天宣布，該國和到訪的美國代表團所進行的兩天會談已有進展，而此會談目的在重新啟動陷入停頓的一項核武裁軍協議。

北韓官方「中央通信社」引述外交部發言人的話說：「這項會談在誠懇與建設性氣氛下進行，並已獲致進展。」

美國國務院率團官員金成不願對記者談論他返回南韓後所繼續展開的北韓之行，只表示，「我必須將此向華府回報。」

金成二十一日抵達首爾準備轉往平壤時表示，他所率領的代表團將與北韓討論，如何查證北韓核武計畫的通報內容以及通報文件本身。

他說：「每個問題都必須查證，這就是我們必須專注之處。」

在去年達成的劃時代協議中，美國、南韓、北韓、中國、日本與俄羅斯同意對北韓提供能源援助與重大的外交與安全利益，以換取北韓全面非核化。

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080424/wl_asia_afp/nkoreanuclearweaponsskoreaussyria_080424115802;_ylt=Agvp5w2DTXC9j06XYJXDKeztOrgF
NKorea reports progress in US nuke talks amid proliferation claims

2 hours, 26 minutes ago

SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea Thursday reported progress in talks with a visiting US team aimed at restarting a stalled nuclear disarmament deal, as US intelligence officials in Washington accused Pyongyang of sharing atomic technology with Syria.
 
The team led by US State Department official Sung Kim spent two days in Pyongyang from Tuesday discussing the North's promised nuclear declaration, an issue which has blocked progress on the six-nation pact for months.

"The negotiations proceeded in a sincere and constructive manner and progress was made there," a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by the communist state's Korean Central News Agency.

Kim told reporters in Seoul: "I will just tell you that we had a good visit. We had a very substantive discussion."

Apparent US concessions over the contents of the declaration, which is supposed to disclose all the North's nuclear activities, have come under fire from conservatives in Washington.

Intelligence officials in the US capital were set to give lawmakers "solid intelligence" later Thursday that the North had shared nuclear technology with Syria.

After a tough stance early in his first term, US President George W. Bush is pushing to resolve the nuclear issue before he leaves office next January.

In a landmark deal last year the United States, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia agreed to grant North Korea energy aid and major diplomatic and security benefits in return for full denuclearisation.

The North has begun disabling its plutonium-producing plants but has not produced the declaration promised by the end of 2007. It said it delivered the documentation last November but the US called it incomplete.

In particular, Washington said Pyongyang must allay suspicions about an alleged secret uranium enrichment programme and about suspected proliferation. The North denies both activities.

According to numerous reports, the North in a face-saving gesture will now merely "acknowledge" US concerns about uranium enrichment and proliferation in a confidential document to the United States.

It would detail its admitted plutonium operation, which is based at the Yongbyon complex, in a formal declaration to talks host China.

In upbeat comments Wednesday, South Korea's Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan said the "last work" on getting the declaration is underway and six-nation talks could resume next month.

It was unclear how the planned intelligence presentations in Washington would affect the diplomatic process.

The US has concluded that the North helped Syria begin building a nuclear reactor and that the partnership did not stop when the site was later destroyed, said one official on condition of anonymity.

"If it had been complete, the reactor would have been capable of producing plutonium for nuclear weapons, but it was destroyed before it could do so," the official said. "That's the result of solid intelligence."

Israeli aircraft last September attacked a mystery target widely reported to have been a nuclear site.

The New York Times and The Washington Post said a video showing North Koreans inside the Syrian reactor, which appears identical in design to one at Yongbyon, would also be shown to lawmakers.

Syria's ambassador to the United Nations again denied any nuclear assistance from the North.

An unidentified senior US official told the Post the timing of the video and information about to be disclosed was meant to torpedo any deal with North Korea to remove it from a US list of state sponsors of terrorism.

"Making public the pictures is likely to inflame the North Koreans," the official said. "And that's just what opponents of this whole arrangement want, because they think the North Koreans will stalk off."

A previous six-party disarmament deal was reached in September 2005. But at almost the same time, the US Treasury blacklisted a Macau bank on suspicion of handling illicit North Korean funds.

The issue blocked any progress for almost 18 months, during which time the North staged its first atomic weapons test.

http://news.yam.com/afp/international/200804/20080420055436.html
布希：美未降低對北韓通報核子計劃要求
法新社╱吳長生 2008-04-20 01:05     
 
 
（法新社馬里蘭州大衛營十九日電）美國總統布希今天否認他已經降低對於北韓通報核子計劃的要求，他並強調，他不會接受不符合該區域利益的協議，仍將堅持北韓必須就其核子計畫提出完整通報。

布希說，儘管外界傳出與談判有關的謠言，但美國及盟邦仍然在等待北韓通報其核子活動的結果。

布希和南韓總統李明博舉行會談後在記者會上說：「顯然，本人不會接受一項不能促進該區域利益的協議。」

他說：「他們作了一些承諾，我們將會研判他們是否履行這些諾言。然後我們將對我們的責任作出我們自己的決定。」

美國官員十七日首次承認，美方已經調整對北韓的要求，以打破針對北韓廢除核武問題所引發的外交僵局。

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080419/wl_asia_afp/usskoreankoreanuclearweaponstrade_080419205534;_ylt=AiZoxxFzQiTOC4RLNGbN5gftOrgF
US not scaling back demands on North Korea: Bush

by Olivier Knox
Sat Apr 19, 4:55 PM ET

CAMP DAVID, Maryland (AFP) - US President George W. Bush Saturday disputed suggestions that he was scaling back demands on North Korea over its nuclear program and said he would not accept a deal that goes against the region's interests.
 
Bush said that despite "rumors" floating concerning the negotiations, the United States and its allies were still waiting to see the outcome of Pyongyang's overdue disclosures on its nuclear activities.

"Obviously I am not going to accept a deal that doesn't advance the interests of the region," Bush said in press conference with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on the second day of their summit.

"We're going to make a judgement as to whether North Korea has met its obligations to account for its nuclear program and activities as well as meet its obligations to disable its reactor," Bush said.

"They have made some promises and we'll make a judgement as to whether or not they've met those promises," he said. "Then we'll make a judgement of our own ... about our own obligations."

But the South Korean leader said any softening of Pyongyang's obligations under a six-country deal to fully declare its nuclear program could lead to "a lot more serious problems."

"I believe if North Korea's declaration is not satisfactory or if the verification is not satisfactory, we could probably have a temporary achievement, but in the long term that will cause a lot more serious problems," Lee said.

"The United States is not dealing with North Korea alone," he said. "There are other parties to these six-party talks and they must all agree to this declaration."

US officials on Thursday said Washington was adjusting its demands on North Korea in a bid to break a diplomatic stalemate on ending Pyongyang's nuclear arms drive.

Senior National Security Council official Dennis Wilder said North Korea was not "off the hook" on fully declaring its atomic programs, but that proliferation issues would be "handled in a different manner."

And US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in an apparent concession to Pyongyang, indicated Pyongyang's declaration might not be made public.

She also hinted that US sanctions against North Korea could be removed even before its nuclear programs or proliferation activities were verified independently.

"Verification can take some time," Rice told reporters.

The statements triggered a backlash from US critics who suggested that the United States was selling out in the negotiations in order to nail down a deal before Bush leaves office next January.

Bush played down the idea of any US compromise, allowing that Pyongyang could be "trying to stall" and insisting that "if there's ever going to be a breakthrough, it'll be through the six-party talks."

Lee stressed that there should be no letup in pressure on Pyongyang to live up to its agreement with the United States, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea.

"The verification process has not begun. We are still waiting for North Korea to declare their full program. They should not get away with this temporary measure," he said.

"I think it is inappropriate and unconstructive for us to have too many doubts before the process begins. We should have trust in the process, and I will watch this process and cooperate fully."

Despite his tough stance, Lee said he was open to a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il if the talks would generate results.

"I will agree to it when the need is real and I already said publicly that I am willing to meet with him not just once, but many times, but if the meeting will yield substantial and real results," Lee said.

Lee proposed Thursday that North and South Korea, technically still in a state of war since 1950, establish permanent liaison offices in each other's capital.

"We need ... to open a permanent dialogue channel between the two Koreas," Lee told the Washington Post.

The two-day summit between the US and South Korean leaders was their first since Lee became president in February. Lee said Bush accepted an invitation to visit South Korea this summer.

Their meeting was also marked by South Korea's agreement to open up its markets to US beef exports, potentially opening the way for the passage of the long-gestating US-South Korea free trade agreement.

http://news.chinatimes.com/2007Cti/2007Cti-News/2007Cti-News-Content/0,4521,110504+112008041900468,00.html
中國時報 2008.04.19
李明博提議 南北韓互設聯絡所
閻紀宇／綜合十八日外電報導

  　正在美國訪問的南韓總統李明博17日接受《華盛頓郵報》專訪時表示，南韓與北韓雙方應該在首都互設高層聯絡事務所，以促進兩國高層對話，積極解決朝鮮半島核子問題，建立新型態的南北關係。不過北韓方面尚未回應這項提議。

  　李明博指出：「南北韓不能只在危機發生時才進行接觸，而應建立即時對話管道，定期進行對話。」他並強調：「聯絡事務所的負責人層級，必須是可以直接接觸南北韓領導人的人士。」

  　南韓分析家認為，北韓當局如果同意設立高層聯絡事務所，可能會為近來緊張對峙的南北關係帶來新轉機，對於陷入僵局的朝鮮半島核武問題談判，也會產生重大影響。

  　南韓總統府青瓦台發言人李東官說：「我們的原則是南北韓雙方擺脫戰略角度，以真誠為基礎，展開有實質進展的對話。李明博總統的提議就是以此一原則為基礎而提出的。」

  　李東官並指出表示，過去南北韓之間雖建立過各種對話機制，但往往在政治原因作祟之下，時而撤銷、時而恢復，如今雙方需要的是一個更加穩定、有助於兩國關係的對話管道。

http://udn.com/NEWS/WORLD/WOR3/4306540.shtml
李明博提議 兩韓互設辦事處
 
【聯合報╱編譯張佑生／綜合報導】 2008.04.19 04:40 am
 
南韓總統李明博提議與北韓互設聯絡代表處（或稱辦事處），創下兩韓分裂近60年來的首例。

南韓執政黨稱讚此議對朝鮮半島和平有益，反對黨則指李明博此舉與他對北韓的強硬立場自相矛盾，要他先致力化解雙方緊張局勢再說。

李明博刻在美國訪問，華盛頓郵報18日刊出他的受訪內容，李明博希望雙方能在首爾和平壤互設聯絡代表處，建立常態性的對話管道。這是韓戰結束迄今，首次有南韓總統正式提出此議。

李明博說：「當我回國後，將是我首度公開呼籲，我們需要在兩韓間開啟常態性的對話管道。以前兩韓只在必要時才對話，沒有需要時就沒有對話。我認為過去做法無助於當前的局勢，北韓與南韓都需要改弦更張。」

李明博18日晚間起在大衛營與美國總統布希討論朝鮮半島局勢。李明博2月就職後強調北韓必須先廢核，否則將停止一切援助及合作計畫，導致南韓駐北韓人員被驅逐，北韓甚至試射導彈，中止雙邊對話，兩韓關係緊繃。

目前尚無法得知北韓對此提議的反應。從1990年代開始，美國就一直敦促南韓與北韓建立外交聯絡辦事處，今天是南韓官方首次公開提出這一建議。

【2008/04/19 聯合報】

http://news.yam.com/afp/international/200804/20080418053286.html
美韓峰會今登場 將商談自由貿易與北韓核武
法新社╱張佑之 2008-04-18 21:20     

 
 
（法新社華盛頓十八日電）美國總統布希和南韓總統李明博在南韓決定恢復進口美國牛肉的鼓舞下，將在今天舉行會談，以推進雙方大規模的自由貿易協定和加強彼此半世紀以來的安全結盟關係。

這項會談的另一重點是中止北韓核武計畫的多邊努力，此時布希政府似乎竭盡全力要與立場強硬的北韓達成協議。

布希急欲在二零零九年元月卸任之前執行這項自由貿易協定與核武協議，此次他將在大衛營接待李明博，以進行兩天會談，而雙方的經濟和國防官員也將在場。

李明博是第一位受邀造訪這座美國總統鄉間渡假設施的南韓領導人。

儘管布希和李明博以往從未會面，但兩人都有從商背景、保守的自由市場理念和堅定的基督教價值觀念。

自李明博在不及兩個月前接掌全世界第十大經濟體南韓的政權迄今，美、韓兩個盟國間的關係已改善。

此一關係在南韓前任總統盧武鉉和金大中時期惡化，因為盧、金對北韓的無條件支持引起了美方疑慮。美國在南韓駐有兩萬八千名部隊。

http://news.yam.com/afp/international/200804/20080418053085.html
李明博倡議平壤首爾互設南北韓聯絡辦事處
法新社╱法新社 2008-04-18 19:20    

 
 
（法新社華盛頓十七日電）正在華盛頓訪問的南韓總統李明博於當地時間十七日表示，將向北韓建議在平壤和首爾互設南北韓聯絡辦事處，並建立由可以與最高領導人直接溝通的最高層對話機制。

南韓「首爾放送」於今天清晨七時（台北時間清晨六時）的新聞節目中，引述青瓦台發言人李東官的話，就南北韓關係作出了前述報導。

青瓦台發言人李東官透露，李明博總統於華盛頓時間十七日接見「華盛頓郵報」董事長時，就南北韓關係作出了前述建議。

李明博提出，雖然開設聯絡辦事處一事需要南北韓雙方達成協議，但派駐在對方的代表應該是能夠和南北韓最高領導人直接溝通的高層人士。

他並強調，就是因為不能再以過去的方式推展南北韓關係，因此，才首度建議北韓建立恆常暢通的對話機制。

南韓「聯合新聞通訊社」今天凌晨來自華盛頓的消息指出，李明博就南韓的對北韓經濟合作方案，提示了四大原則：依據無核化進展而推動階段性的支援、考量經濟的妥當性、財政負擔的能力、國民的共識。

對於「北韓即將面臨糧荒饑苦」的說法，李明博表示，雖然正式的南北韓經合問題必須與無核化進展相互掛鉤，但北韓居民的糧食危機是人道支援問題，必須與經濟合作有所區分，支援糧食的問題必須以人道問題處理。

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080418/wl_asia_afp/usskoreankoreanuclearweaponstrade_080418074043;_ylt=AjhvFf5wN0UmpNJF1CpeD07tOrgF
Beef deal buoys US-SKorea summit

by P. Parameswaran
Fri Apr 18, 3:40 AM ET

WASHINGTON, April 18, 2008 (AFP) - Buoyed by Seoul's decision to resume US beef imports, President George W. Bush and South Korea's leader Lee Myung-bak hold talks Friday on pushing ahead with a mega free trade deal and fortifying their half century security alliance.
 
The meeting will also focus on a multilateral bid to end North Korea's nuclear weapons drive, as the Bush administration appears to bend backwards to forge an agreement with the hardline communist state.

Eager to have the free trade and nuclear deals implemented before he leaves the White House in January 2009, Bush will welcome Lee at Camp David for the two-day talks, that are to include their economic and defense teams.

Lee is the first South Korean leader to be invited to the rustic presidential retreat.

Although the two have not met before, they share a business background, conservative free market principles and strong Christian values.

Ties between the allies have warmed since Lee took over the helm of the world's 10th biggest economy hardly two months ago.

Relations had deteriorated under Lee's predecessors Roh Moo-Hyun and Kim Dae-jung, both of whose unconditional support for North Korea had raised suspicions in the United States, which has 28,000 troops stationed in South Korea.

On the eve of the Bush-Lee talks, the South Korean agriculture ministry announced that the two nations had struck a deal to open the Korean market wider to US beef imports, giving a fillip to their free trade agreement.

Details of the beef deal were not immediately available but one of the conditions Washington had set for the pact's passage in Congress is the full opening up of the South Korean beef market.

The free trade agreement -- the most commercially significant US trade deal in 15 years -- was signed a year ago but is stuck in the Democratic-led US Congress wary of trade deals negotiated by the Bush administration.

At a dinner late Thursday with business leaders, Lee was served American beef from farm-rich Montana and officials seated nearby said the South Korean was seen enjoying the meal.

"The ratification of the South Korea-US free trade agreement constitutes an essential part" of transnational community building, he said.

It would usher in a new era in bilateral security relations, "anchoring the military alliance on a firm social and economic basis," he said.

If ratified, the FTA will add about 20 billion dollars a year to trade between the two nations, said Dennis Wilder, the White House national security director for Asian affairs.

"The Congress has said, 'if you get beef, there are many members of Congress who are quite ready to vote for this,'" he said. "I can tell you that there is a great deal of interest in this free trade agreement on Capitol Hill."

In a bid to mend fences with North Korea, Lee proposed Thursday the creation of the first liaison offices in the capitals of the two Koreas, which are still technically in a state of war after their 1950-1953 bloody clashes.

The proposed offices in Seoul and Pyongyang would act as a permanent communication link, he told The Washington Post newspaper in an interview.

Since the 1990s the United States has urged Seoul to take this step, but this is the first time it has been officially proposed by a South Korean president, the Post said.

Lee has promised a firmer line on North Korea, linking aid to nuclear disarmament in a move that has angered the hardline communist state.

A furious Pyongyang has threatened to turn its neighbor into "ashes" after kicking South Korean officials out of a joint industrial complex in the North's border city of Kaesong.

Bush and Lee would discuss the latest efforts being made to prod North Korea to disband its nuclear weapons program under an aid-for-denuclearization pact adopted by the United States, China, the two Koreas, Japan and Russia.

In a turnaround Thursday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hinted that US sanctions against North Korea could be removed even before its nuclear programs or proliferation activities were verified independently.

"Verification can take some time," she told reporters.

North Korea has been pushing the United States to remove it from the blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism.

http://news.chinatimes.com/2007Cti/2007Cti-News/2007Cti-News-Content/0,4521,110504+112008041800518,00.html
中國時報 2008.04.18　
國際瞭望：「新加坡協議」難完成廢核目標
本報訊

    　美國與北韓在新加坡雙邊會中達成的協議逐漸曝光，據說布希總統對這協議是勉強同意，尚未絕對同意，那麼這協議能否導致「朝核六方會談」重啟也便不能十分確定。

    　朝核會談僵局在於北韓不願將濃縮鈾及與敘利亞核合作問題列入核計畫申報，而新加坡協議的變通辦法大致是：

    　這兩問題仍不列入六方會談的核申報清單，但是北韓將就這兩問題對美國另提釋疑方式，這方式有如美國與中國當年簽訂《上海公報》的樣子，北韓將提出一個聲明，它認知美國所關心的北韓提煉濃縮鈾及與敘利亞核合作問題的重要性，北韓將不朝這個方向進行，那就是既不承認也不否認有此問題。

    　當美國接受了這個聲明後，即將北韓從美方「資助恐怖主義國家」名單中除名，並不再適用敵國條款。

    　由於在這樣方式中，北韓只是認知美國的憂慮，並不保證絕對中止行動以消除美國的憂慮，所以美國政府內部有不同意見，認為這是掩身盜鈴的作法，美國不應這樣做。也因此，新加坡協議至今已有一陣子了，但朝核難題仍未能突破。

    　保留核實力是北韓不可能放棄的原則，以鈽生產核彈與以鈾生產核彈是一手，寧邊基地廢核是另一手，斬掉左手即不能再斬右手。斬左手換取到的是突破經濟孤立，如要再斬右手，那就非簽訂安全保障條約不可，而當下顯然離題還遠。但即使申報問題解決了，朝鮮半島無核化的路途仍很遙遠。