North Korea dominates issues at APEC summit

South Korea doesn't fully support a U.S.-led initiative.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
HANOI, Vietnam -- For all the talk of fostering freer trade among Pacific Rim nations at an economic summit here, an equally challenging goal is increasing pressure on North Korea to make good on its promise to resume negotiations about its nuclear ambitions and ensuring the cooperation of the rogue nation's neighbors.
The 21 nations taking part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit are to issue a statement today voicing concern over North Korea's missile testing, urging Pyongyang to comply with a U.N. demand to cease development of nuclear weaponry and pushing it to return to six-party talks with four Asian neighbors and the United States.
Limited cooperation
But while the U.S. is pressuring for united action against North Korea, one of the key players, South Korea, indicated that it will limit its cooperation. While Seoul asserted that it is fully committed to averting the transfer of nuclear material, it is not completely on board with the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative, or PSI, an effort by some 80 nations to interdict shipments of nuclear supplies.
"The Republic of Korea is not taking part in the full scope of the PSI," South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun said during an appearance with President Bush on Saturday. At the same time, the South Korean leader said: "We support the principles and goals of the PSI and will fully cooperate in preventing [weapons of mass destruction] materiel transfer [in] the Northeast Asia region."
Bush and the new Japanese leader "see eye-to-eye" on North Korea, said Stephen Hadley, Bush's national security adviser. Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met on the sidelines of the summit, as did Bush and Roh. Then the three leaders met as a group Saturday.
In the first meeting of Bush and the newly seated Japanese leader, Abe made a gesture of friendship by presenting Bush a photograph of his grandfather, the late Sen. Prescott Bush, playing golf with Abe's grandfather and President Dwight Eisenhower.
"We are faced with many difficult issues, like North Korea, the fight against terror and also Iraq," Abe said in an appearance with Bush. "But we agreed that we will be utilizing the alliance we have between Japan and the United States for the good of the world and the region."
Other issues
This isn't the only difficult issue confronting the leaders of Pacific Rim nations. Bush has spoken with the host of the talks and an erstwhile adversary at war, the communist regime of Vietnam, about the remaining human-rights abuses in a nation that restricts religion and freedom of speech. And Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet publicly expressed an openness to reform.
"President Triet apprised President Bush of recently promulgated laws and regulations on religious freedom that are to be implemented in all localities of Vietnam," they said in a joint statement. "The two leaders also noted the importance of continuing to make progress in the bilateral human-rights dialogue."
Activist's story
Yet, at the same time, an activist for democratic reforms in Hanoi said he had been hauled from his home and beaten by police before he was returned to house arrest. Dr. Pham Hong Son was imprisoned two years, starting in 2002, and has served another two under house arrest. He said his offense was translating into Vietnamese an article about democracy on the U.S. State Department's Web site.
"About 10 plainclothes police and secret agents stormed my place," Son said. "After that more than 20 plainclothes police beat me up right in front of my house."
He was taken to a police station, he said, where "the police continued to torture me for six hours."
While the appearance of an American president in Vietnam should help advance human rights, Son said, the Vietnamese people still face obstacles.
"The struggle for democracy in Vietnam first and foremost is the responsibility of we the Vietnamese," Son said. "However, the U.S. is not only in the forefront of economics, but it is a nation that demonstrates a high level of democracy in the world. ... While there are a lot of people who just worry about trade, just worry about money, there are also a lot of people who worry about democracy in the world."