ID :
11977
Thu, 07/10/2008 - 10:16
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https://oananews.org//node/11977
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Bush, Lee reconfirm close cooperation on beef trade, N. Korea
TOYAKO, Japan, July 10 Kyodo - U.S. President George W. Bush and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak on Wednesday reconfirmed their close cooperation on implementing a bilateral beef trade arrangement and on North Korea's denuclearization, South Korean officials said.
Bush and Lee met on the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit at the Lake Toya resort area in Hokkaido, northern Japan, which ended Wednesday. Lee was amongthe more than a dozen leaders invited to dialogues with the G-8 heads.
On beef trade, Bush and Lee reaffirmed their steady implementation of a new arrangement reached last month, under which American beef exporters resumedshipments to South Korea, the officials said.
While striking a deal in April to resume U.S. beef imports to South Korea, Washington and Seoul had to prepare a new undertaking in the face of waves ofSouth Korean protests over the deal.
The April accord was to enable South Korea to fully reopen its beef market to American beef, which had been largely kept at bay because of Seoul'srestrictions linked to mad cow disease.
Under the framework reached last month, only U.S. beef from cattle under 30 months of age should be shipped to South Korea, as a transitional measure, toimprove South Korean consumer confidence in U.S. beef.
As for North Korea, Bush and Lee again concurred that Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal must be disbanded through verifying a list of nuclear activities recently submitted by the North and coming negotiations on the denuclearizationof the country, the officials said.
The submission of Pyongyang's list of its plutonium-based nuclear programs came six months after the end-of-2007 deadline agreed by North and South Korea, theUnited States, China, Japan and Russia.
North Korea is disabling its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon, about 90 kilometers north of its capital, under a six-way accord struck last year inexchange for energy aid and diplomatic benefits.
Bush and Lee, who are to meet again in Seoul next month, also agreed to have a bilateral free trade agreement ratified by both nations' legislatures by theend of the year, according to the officials.
==Kyodo
Bush and Lee met on the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit at the Lake Toya resort area in Hokkaido, northern Japan, which ended Wednesday. Lee was amongthe more than a dozen leaders invited to dialogues with the G-8 heads.
On beef trade, Bush and Lee reaffirmed their steady implementation of a new arrangement reached last month, under which American beef exporters resumedshipments to South Korea, the officials said.
While striking a deal in April to resume U.S. beef imports to South Korea, Washington and Seoul had to prepare a new undertaking in the face of waves ofSouth Korean protests over the deal.
The April accord was to enable South Korea to fully reopen its beef market to American beef, which had been largely kept at bay because of Seoul'srestrictions linked to mad cow disease.
Under the framework reached last month, only U.S. beef from cattle under 30 months of age should be shipped to South Korea, as a transitional measure, toimprove South Korean consumer confidence in U.S. beef.
As for North Korea, Bush and Lee again concurred that Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal must be disbanded through verifying a list of nuclear activities recently submitted by the North and coming negotiations on the denuclearizationof the country, the officials said.
The submission of Pyongyang's list of its plutonium-based nuclear programs came six months after the end-of-2007 deadline agreed by North and South Korea, theUnited States, China, Japan and Russia.
North Korea is disabling its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon, about 90 kilometers north of its capital, under a six-way accord struck last year inexchange for energy aid and diplomatic benefits.
Bush and Lee, who are to meet again in Seoul next month, also agreed to have a bilateral free trade agreement ratified by both nations' legislatures by theend of the year, according to the officials.
==Kyodo
