Bush, South Korean leader begin talks to improve relations

CAMP DAVID, Md. (AP) — President Bush and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak opened two days of talks Friday focusing on North Korea’s unfulfilled pledge to disclose its nuclear activities and a U.S. free-trade deal with South Korea that faces an uphill battle in Congress.

Bush hopes to strengthen sometimes-shaky U.S.-South Korea ties under Lee, a pro-American conservative who took office in late February and made the United States his first overseas trip. Their get-to-know-you meeting took on renewed importance when South Korea announced Friday that it would lift its ban on U.S. beef imports.

The dinner menu at the secluded presidential retreat in Maryland? Texas black Angus beef tenderloin.

South Korea was the third-largest foreign market for U.S. beef before it banned imports in December 2003 over the possibility of mad cow disease. Its decision to end the ban removed a major roadblock to getting Congress to pass the free-trade pact, which Bush wants lawmakers to ratify before he leaves office. But even with the beef spat resolved, opposition from Democrats and automakers and a narrowing legislative calendar could push the issue into the next administration.

On North Korea, Bush is embracing Lee’s get-tough rhetoric against its communist neighbor. But the talks between North Korea and the U.S., China, Russia, South Korea and Japan are at an impasse over how the North should make good on its pledge to declare its nuclear and proliferation activities.