US, S.Korea push N.Korea on nuclear verification plan

The two leaders publicly skirted other issues that have plagued their brief five-month relationship, including the controversial South Korean decision to only partly lift a ban on U.S. beef imports.

Instead, Bush and Lee presented a united front on the need to set up a process for verifying details of North Korea's program to develop nuclear weapons, which is being dismantled, before handing Pyongyang additional economic and diplomatic benefits.

"I'm concerned about its uranium enrichment activities as well as its nuclear testing and proliferation, its ballistic missile program," Bush told reporters during a news conference after meeting with Lee.

"The best way to approach and answer those concerns is for there to be strong verification measures," Bush said.

He later flew to Thailand where he will try to draw attention to the plight of neighboring Myanmar's people and on Thursday will go to China to attend the 2008 Summer Olympics despite some criticism about Beijing's human rights record.

In Seoul, Bush's stand on North Korea was echoed by Lee, who took office in February promising a tougher approach than his left-of-centre predecessors to dealing with the communist North.

"Our goal is firm and it is that the Korean peninsula must be denuclearized. If we work with patience and consistency, verification can be done perfectly, and I believe North Korea should cooperate on this," Lee said.

A major Washington concern has been whether the reclusive communist North Korean government has shared any of its nuclear weapons technology with other countries that could use it to attack the United States.

Bush called it a "positive step" that North Korea blew up a cooling tower at its ageing Yongbyon nuclear plant in June. In response to the declaration, the United States did lift some sanctions under its Trading with the Enemy Act.

Even so, Bush said he still considered Pyongyang part of an "axis of evil".
He branded North Korea, Iran and Iraq with that moniker in 2002 because he said they sought weapons of mass destruction that could be used to attack U.S. allies or blackmail the United States.

The United States, China, Russia, South Korea and Japan have been negotiating for years with Pyongyang, offering economic and humanitarian aid in exchange for the reclusive government giving up its nuclear ambitions.

The United States has told communist North Korea it could be removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism as early as Aug. 11 if a rigorous verification process is established, but the discussions have been lengthy.

"They've got a lot to do, they've got to ... show us a verification regime that we can trust," Bush said.

"This is a step-by-step process. I don't know whether or not they're going to give up their weapons."

HUMAN RIGHTS MOVE TO THE FORE

Pivoting to focus on human rights issues, Bush flew to Thailand where on Thursday he meets Myanmarese activists, some of whom fled the Aug. 8, 1988 uprising in which the former Burma's army killed an estimated 3,000 people.

First Lady Laura Bush will separately visit a refugee camp near the Thai border with Myanmar.
The United States has imposed sanctions on the military junta that has ruled for decades and blocked democratic reform efforts.

"They will both highlight the need for continued international attention and pressure on the junta," said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

"The United States is committed to helping the people of Burma recover from the devastation of Cyclone Nargis, but we will also continue sanctions against the regime and its cronies."

Aid agencies reported last month that people in the Irrawaddy delta are in dire need of food and clean water, three months after Cyclone Nargis slammed across the area. The military leaders refused most U.S. relief assistance.

In China, Bush plans to focus on cheering for U.S. Olympic athletes but has been dogged by human rights activists who have demanded he confront the Chinese leadership about suppressing political and religious freedom.