U.S. President George W. Bush will meet bilaterally with President Lee Myungbak and Chinese and Japanese leaders in Peru on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum later this week to discuss North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, officials in Washington said Wednesday.
A senior official said that President Bush will express appreciation for the highly constructive roles both nations continue to play in the six-party talks and will discuss ways to move the process forward, according to Yonhap News.
While meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Bush will express “appreciation for China’s leadership on the North Korea denuclearization issue,” the official was quoted as saying.
Bush’s meeting comes amid differing positions from the United States and North Korea on how to verify North Korea’s nuclear facilities as presented by the reclusive country in June as part of a nuclear deal signed by the six parties in the multilateral talks.
North Korea last week said that it had never agreed on sample taking and access to undeclared nuclear sites.