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Nuclear issue tops Obama's agenda in ROK

By Cheng Guangjin and Ai Yang (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-19 07:37

Washington and Seoul are expected to renew their call for Pyongyang to go back to the negotiating table during Barack Obama's visit to the Republic of Korea (ROK) today.

In the one-day visit by the United States president to the ROK capital - the last leg of his maiden Asian trip that has taken him to Japan, Singapore and China - Obama will meet with his ROK counterpart Lee Myung-bak.

Denuclearization will be the major topic between Obama and Lee, said Huang Youfu, director of the Institute of Korean Studies at Beijing-based Central University for Nationalities.

"The ROK and the US differ in their approaches to solve the (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) issue, but they both wish to bring the DPRK back to the negotiating table as soon as possible," Huang said.

On Tuesday in Beijing, Obama urged the DPRK to "become a full member of the international community, which will give a better life to its people by living up to international obligations and foregoing nuclear weapons".

The DPRK last month said it was willing to rejoin the Six-Party Talks that also include China, the US, Japan, Russia and the ROK. The DPRK left the negotiating table in April after the United Nations condemned its rocket launches.

Related readings:  US demands DPRK stop "bellicose rhetoric" against ROK  DPRK warns S Korea to pay dearly for naval clash  Clinton calls on DPRK to go back to six-party talks  Lee: Don't overreact to DPRK  US special representative to visit DPRK

But a US-ROK military alliance similar to the one between the US and Japan is unlikely, because Seoul wants to distance itself from Washington's global military tasks, Huang said.

Lee is also likely to bargain on, if not reject, Obama's request for military and financial support in Afghanistan, Huang said.

At present, the US has about 28,000 soldiers in the ROK. Under the deal, left from the 1950-53 Korean War, ROK soldiers would be under the US command if the north and south went into war.

The economy will take a back seat during Obama's meeting with Lee, said Gao Heng, a senior researcher at the Institute of World Economics and Politics affiliated to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Although both presidents appeared eager to reach a free trade pact, mounting pressure in both nations' congresses may make it just a passing topic at their meeting, Huang said.

The on-again off-again trade talks proceeded slowly as the two nations disputed the opening of agriculture and auto markets.

Obama's Asian visit has come as the world's largest economy "still has a very long way to go to fully recover from the financial crisis", Gao said. "Through the tour, Obama is to stabilize and improve a healthy relationship with Asian countries."