Bush assures Aso he'll urge Obama to work on abduction issue

LIMA, Nov. 22 Kyodo -
U.S. President George W. Bush assured Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso on
Saturday that he will urge his successor, Barack Obama, to work toward a
resolution of the long-simmering issue of North Korea's abductions of Japanese
nationals, Japanese officials said.

In their talks ahead of a Pacific Rim leaders' summit in Lima, the two agreed
to further strengthen the bilateral alliance and to continue efforts to strip
North Korea of its nuclear capabilities, the officials said.
Aso, Bush and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, who later met for a
trilateral summit, reaffirmed their close collaboration on denuclearizing North
Korea, with China trying to schedule the next six-party chief delegates meeting
in early December, they said.
In their bilateral encounter, Bush was quoted as telling Aso that he will seek
to have Obama work on helping to settle the abduction issue after Obama takes
office in late January.
White House Press Secretary Dana Perino quoted Bush as saying that he knows
''how sensitive it is'' and believes Washington has ''handled it delicately.''
North Korean agents abducted Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s. The
issue has prevented the two countries from normalizing diplomatic relations and
hampers Tokyo's participation in energy aid to Pyongyang under the six-party
talks on North Korea's denuclearization.
On ties with Japan, Bush hailed the deepening of the bilateral alliance as the
basis for peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, with the two leaders
agreeing to further strengthen the alliance, the Japanese officials said.
Perino quoted her boss as telling Aso ''our relations are good'' and that he is
''confident the next president will see the importance of continuing these good
relations.''
As for North Korea's nuclear ambitions, Bush cited the need to ensure that a
powerful mechanism is set up to verify Pyongyang's nuclear information, the
Japanese officials said.
Aso and Bush also agreed to work together to advance the stalled Doha Round of
multilateral market-opening talks under the World Trade Organization,
cautioning against a possible rise in protectionism, the officials said.
Furthermore, they shared the view that Japan and the United States will
continue to strive for the stability and reconstruction of Iraq and
Afghanistan.
Aso was quoted as briefing Bush on Tokyo's ongoing efforts to extend its
refueling mission in the Indian Ocean in support of U.S.-led antiterrorism
operations in and around Afghanistan.
The U.S. president was quoted as replying that the international community has
high expectations of Japan continuing the refueling mission.
Aso and Bush met on the sidelines of a two-day annual summit of the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, which started in the Peruvian capital
later in the day.
Saturday's meeting with Aso is likely to be Bush's last summit with a Japanese
prime minister because his second four-year term will expire in late January,
when he makes way for Obama.
At the tripartite summit also involving South Korea's Lee, the leaders renewed
their determination to keep in close touch over ending North Korea's nuclear
drive, the Japanese officials said.
They also agreed on the need for North Korea and its five partners discussing
Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions -- the United States, China, South Korea, Japan
and Russia -- to put the verification mechanism in writing.
A senior Japanese official said China, as chair of the multilateral talks, is
sounding out the five others about holding the next meeting of the six-party
heads-of-delegations in early December, but added the date has yet to be fixed.
Aso, Bush and Lee welcomed the outcome of a recent agreement by the Group of 20
advanced and emerging economies to combat the global financial crisis, and
confirmed their continued cooperation in that area.
The G-20 summit in Washington earlier this month set financial reform
principles and adopted an action plan to be implemented by the end of next
March to ensure a global financial crisis like the ongoing one will not recur.
The current financial turbulence erupted in August last year as a result of the
U.S. subprime mortgage meltdown and surfaced in the rest of the world in
September this year, triggering fears of a global recession.
==Kyodo