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SLUG: 2-300014 Korea's Wrap
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DATE=02/25/03 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=KOREAS WRAP (LONG) NUMBER=2-2-3000 BYLINE=KATE POUND DAWSON DATELINE=SEOUL CONTENT= VOICED AT: /// EDS: Powell presser leads, wraps missile and inauguration CRs /// INTRO: U-S Secretary of State Colin Powell says he and South Korea's newly-inaugurated president, Roh Moo-hyun, agree that diplomacy is needed to resolve the dispute over North Korea's nuclear ambitions. Mr. Powell says he assured the South Korean leader the United States will not act unilaterally in dealing with Pyongyang. V-O-A's Kate Pound Dawson reports from Seoul. TEXT: In a meeting just after Roh Moo-hyun was sworn-in as the ninth president of South Korea, U-S Secretary of State Colin Powell told him Washington has no plans to use military force to destroy North Korea's nuclear capabilities. Mr. Powell told reporters in Seoul Tuesday the United States and South Korea agree diplomacy is the best way to curtail Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions. /// POWELL ACT 1 /// I don't think there should be any concern that the United States is on the verge of entering into some kind of conflict with North Korea, far from it. President Bush has repeatedly said we are interested in a peaceful solution. /// END ACT /// His comments appear to counter the idea South Korea's commitment to diplomacy and U-S statements that other options could be considered were creating a rift in long-time U-S-South Korean alliance. In his inaugural speech Tuesday, President Roh pledged to build trust and use transparency to end the nuclear dispute, create a peace between North and South Korea and open the way for a North Asian economic alliance - comprising China, Japan and the entire Korean Peninsula. Mr. Roh, speaking through a translator, says it will be up to North Korea to choose between building nuclear weapons or embracing security and economic assistance. /// ROH TRANSLATOR ACT /// If it (North Korea) renounces its nuclear development program, us and the international community will offer many things that it wants.. /// END ACT /// Tensions have been high since October when the United States accused Pyongyang of secretly developing nuclear arms. Since then North Korea has openly reneged on several international accords to remain nuclear free. But North Korea's number-two leader assured the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Malaysia Tuesday that the nuclear program is strictly peaceful, for now. /// KIM ACT. IN KOREAN, FADE /// Kim Yong Nam says his country's military-centered policy is protective in the face of a hostile U-S policy. Mr. Powell's description of a firm alliance between Washington and Seoul may help soothe jitters that arose early Tuesday, when South Korea reported that Pyongyang had test-fired surface-to-ship missiles. Mr. Powell was not concerned about this development. /// POWELL ACT 2 /// It seems to be a fairly innocuous kind of test. . We have known for several days that they had made a declaration, a notice to mariners, that such a test might be coming. /// END ACT /// The missile test did not deter Mr. Powell from announcing that the United States would donate 40-thousand tons of food to North Korea immediately. He said Washington would consider sending an additional 60-thousand tons later. Last year, the United States was the largest aid donor to the impoverished North. (Signed) NEB/HK/KPD/JO |
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