Arms Negotiators Criticize Bush's Approach to North KoreaPresident George W. Bush made one of the most serious "diplomatic blunders" of the post Cold-War era by halting talks on North Korea's missile program, a former US arms control negotiator charged on Friday.Spurgeon Keeny Jr. warned that Bush's decision to halt talks on the program would be seen at home and abroad as a cynical bid to preserve North Korea as a "clear and present danger" to the United States and a rationale for his missile defense plans. Keeny, president of the Arms Control Association, also faulted Bush for his attitude toward South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung during a visit to the United States two weeks ago. "I believe that President Bush's handling of this affair in the recent meeting with President Kim of South Korea was one of the most serious diplomatic blunders of the post-Cold War era," said Keeny at a press conference. "Bush clearly blind-sided President Kim and put him in an extremely embarrassing position." During the talks with Kim, Bush told reporters he did not trust North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Il, signaling a departure from the step-by-step engagement policy pursued by his predecessor, president Bill Clinton. The day before the talks, US Secretary of State Colin Powell told reporters that "we do plan to engage with North Korea, to pick up where President Clinton and his administration left off." But Bush, who stressed that a review of US policy towards Pyongyang was ongoing appeared to contradict those remarks and made clear that he had no imminent plans to talk to North Korea. Two other arms control veterans, Morton Halperin, senior Fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations, and Robert Gallucci, Dean of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University also urged Bush to engage North Korea at the press conference, held by the Arms Control Association, a private advocacy group. Clinton fell just short of making a deal on ending the North's missile program when his administration ended in January, former aides have said. Bush officials have said that the proposed deal did not include sufficient verification procedures. Powell laid out their objections in remarks to newspaper editors on Friday, saying Washington needed to make them clear to Kim Jong-Il. "We're going to make sure that he understands that some of the things he has put on the table are not ready to be picked up because we have to work on how one would monitor and verify the kinds of things he is talking about," he said. Since Bush came to office in January signaling a tougher line with North Korea, Pyongyang has threatened to end a moratorium on missile testing and to resume nuclear development. South Korea, the United States and Japan are to hold talks in Seoul on Monday in Seoul on policy toward the North. |
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