US and South Korea vow to eliminate North's nuclear threat

11.45am

WASHINGTON - The US and South Korean presidents vowed today to work with the international community to achieve the "verifiable and irreversible elimination" of North Korea's nuclear weapons.

"President Roh and President Bush reaffirmed that they will not tolerate nuclear weapons in North Korea," said a joint statement issued after summit talks at the White House between South Korea's Roh Moo-hyun and George W. Bush.

"They noted with serious concern North Korea's statements about reprocessing, possession of nuclear weapons, and its threat to demonstrate or transfer those weapons," it said, referring to assertions that Pyongyang made in talks in Beijing last month.

"They stressed that escalatory moves by North Korea will only lead to its greater isolation and a more desperate situation in the North," it added.

The statement said Roh and Bush were confident the seven-month-old nuclear crisis could be solved peacefully, but added that "increased threats to peace and stability on the peninsula would require consideration of further steps."

The four-page English statement did not specify what steps might be considered and said food aid to North Korea from leading donors Seoul and Washington would continue to be "provided without linkage to political developments."

During their half-hour talks, the two leaders pledged to consult closely on plans to restructure the US military presence in South Korea, the statement said. The plan could involve relocating and possibly cutting some of the 37,000 American troops based in the South.

The proposed relocation of US troops bordering North Korea to areas away from the front "should be pursued taking careful account of the political, economic and security situation on the peninsula and in Northeast Asia," the statement said.

It said Roh and Bush saw the US readjustment as an opportunity to expand South Korea's role in defending itself.

The North Korea nuclear crisis erupted in October 2002 when Washington said the North had admitted to a covert program to enrich uranium for nuclear arms in addition to a plutonium program frozen under a 1994 US-North Korean pact.

In his first official trip since taking office in February and his first visit to the United States, Roh also met Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Vice President Dick Cheney and senior members of Congress.

- REUTERS