Kim, Bush to discuss Korean reconciliation

South Korea leader Kim Dae-jung was awarded the nobel peace prize for his efforts at reconciliation with Communist North Korea and his struggle for democracy

In this story: Bush yet to establish N Korea policy N Korea makes power demands China, Russia pursuing role RELATED STORIES, SITES

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea is expected to dominate South Korean President Kim Dae-jung's meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush when the two leaders meet in Washington this week.

Kim is seeking Bush's support for his "sunshine" policy of engagement with North Korea at what appears to be a crucial juncture in Northeast Asian diplomacy.

"The summit meeting will help secure U.S. support and active cooperation on our policy of reconciliation and cooperation towards North Korea," said South Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister, Yim Sung-joon.

But some in Seoul don't share this optimism and are concerned there may be a clear difference between the two governments on how to approach and deal with Pyongyang.

Bush yet to establish N Korea policy

Kim, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year largely for his rapprochement efforts with the communist North -- his so called "sunshine" policy-- received strong support from Bush's predecessor, Bill Clinton, during his time in office.

With the Bush Administration yet to crystallize its policy towards North Korea, talks between Kim and the new U.S. president are expected to get tough over issues of reciprocation and verification.

Key policy makers within the administration are concerned North Korea is lagging behind its commitments made in the historic meeting last June between Kim and North Korea's paramount leader Kim Jong-il, and also in a 1994 nuclear accord.

"President Kim Dae-Jung will have his hands full in terms of trying to convince President Bush to stay the course, if you will," said Lee Jung-Hoon, Yonsei University Professor of International Relations.

Edwin Feulner, president of the conservative Washington based think-tank Heritage Foundation, told a conference in Seoul last week that reciprocity must involve Kim Jong-il visiting Seoul, more open exchanges of families separated by the Korean War and a reduction of North Korean forces along the Korean Peninsula.

N Korea makes power demands

North Korea, for its part, launched tough talk of its own warning Washington that failure to find a solution to its energy crisis could endanger an agreement to keep its missile launching program in suspended animation.

Pyongyang's foreign ministry spokesman talked last weekend about gloomy prospects for Washington living up to its end of a 1994 agreement, in which the North agreed to stop its suspected nuclear weapons program for new nuclear reactors.

Under the 1994 "Agreed Framework," a foreign policy success of the Clinton administration, North Korea agreed to mothball a heavy-water nuclear reactor suspected to be part of a weapons development program in exchange for two safer, light-water reactors and free fuel oil.

The reactors would have a capacity of two million kilowatts -- the same the North is now asking of the South.

Many travelers to North Korea report that most homes and much of the country's industry are without reliable power supplies.

South Korea argues that electricity is a inter-Korean issue while Washington believes it is a more strategic issue linked to implementation of the 1994 landmark accord with Pyongyang.

Analysts say the North's threats of pulling out of the nuclear agreement or even going back on promises of not testing long-range missiles is an attempt to determine just how far the Bush administration can be pushed.

"It will talk about wars, it will talk about re-launch of missiles soon and so forth, but I don't think it will be so suicidal as to start a war," said Lee.

China, Russia pursuing role

At the same time China and Russia are actively pursuing a greater role in the Korean Peninsula, South Korea's leader Kim may have created some storm clouds of his own, after appearing to offer support to Russian President Vladimir Putin's anti-National Missile Defense (NMD) stance.

The South Korean Foreign Ministry later said that because Seoul supports the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty -- which Russia argues outlaws missile defenses like the one proposed by Bush -- it does not mean that it opposes the NMD.

Lee argues that Seoul cannot afford to risk jeopardizing its alliance with the United States, a relationship that has 37,000 U.S. troops based in the South.

"If there was any intention of throwing the Russian card in dealings with the United States - the U.S. is the biggest single factor in security on the Korean Peninsula - it doesn't seem very ripe at this juncture. We're playing with fire," said Lee.

CNN Seoul Bureau Chief Sohn Jie-Ae and Reuters contributed to this report.

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