CORRECTED LEAD: APEC summit to deal with N. Korea, Iraq

Asian Political News, Oct 28, 2002

LOS CABOS, Mexico, Oct. 26 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING COMMENTS)

The leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies will gather here Saturday to discuss how to combat terrorism, deal with North Korea's nuclear weapons program and disarm Iraq.

U.S. President George W. Bush is expected to lead the two-day meeting in the Mexican seaside resort of Los Cabos to present his case against Iraq and solicit support from his fellow APEC leaders for his policy toward the country.

Security concerns in East Asia are also expected to be a major topic following Pyongyang's recent admission that it has a secret nuclear weapons program.

But differences have already emerged among APEC countries on the eve of the 10th APEC summit over the perceived threat posed by North Korea.

Bush and Chinese President Jiang Zemin met on the U.S. leader's private ranch in Crawford, Texas, on Friday and agreed to cooperate in achieving a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner.

Meeting reporters aboard a government plane en route to Los Cabos, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Japan has no plans to discuss bilateral economic cooperation with the North without progress on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.

''It is important to wipe out concerns over security and the nuclear issue,'' Koizumi said.

But Russia questioned the threat posed by Pyongyang's weapons program.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, who is in Los Cabos in place of President Vladimir Putin due to a hostage crisis in Moscow, said Russia sees no evidence that North Korea poses a threat to the international community.

Kasyanov told a business conference held on the fringe of the APEC summit that Russia has not seen any proof that North Korea poses a threat to the international community.

Putin canceled his trip to Mexico to deal with the hostage crisis at a Moscow theater, which ended Saturday after Russian special forces stormed it and killed the rebel leader and many in his group.

In Seoul on Friday, South Korea urged North Korea to clarify the contents of its weapons program, reiterating its position that the program can not be condoned.

But North Korean Ambassador to the United Nations Pak Gil Yon said the same day in New York that North Korea is ''entitled'' to be armed not only with uranium-based nuclear weapons but also ''more powerful'' arms.

Bush will meet with Koizumi and South Korean President Kim Dae Jung shortly before the APEC summit begins to coordinate their policies on North Korea.

On Iraq, Bush is expected to urge his APEC colleagues to support Washington's efforts to adopt a U.N. resolution pressing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to dismantle the country's weapons of mass destruction or face possible military action.

Among the five permanent U.N. Security Council members with veto power, Russia has reportedly joined France in an attempt to water down a draft resolution being outlined by the United States.

Kasyanov reiterated Russia's position that any military action should not bypass U.N. approval, saying, ''All the actions to be taken have to be based on the U.N. decisions.''

He added, however, that Russia will be actively involved in international coordination and expects U.N. inspectors to soon start work to identify ''whether there is any threat coming from Iraq.''

In Crawford, Bush urged Jiang, the leader of another permanent U.N. Security Council member, to join Washington in adopting a U.N. resolution demanding Iraq fully disarm itself of weapons of mass destruction. But Jiang did not clearly respond.

Bush is also hoping to garner support on the Iraq issue from other leaders of APEC countries that are also U.N. Security Council members, such as Mexico and Malaysia.

Bush is set to arrive Saturday morning. Koizumi and most other APEC leaders arrived Thursday and Friday.

Another major topic at the APEC summit is the U.S.-led war on terrorism in the wake of the Oct. 12 nightclub bombings in Indonesia's Bali, recent bomb explosions in the Philippines and the Moscow hostage crisis.

At their meeting here Wednesday and Thursday, APEC foreign and trade ministers expressed determination to combat terrorism as well as attain APEC's original goal of freer trade and investment.

The APEC leaders are now expected to issue two statements on antiterrorism -- one on the Bali, Philippine and Moscow incidents and another on enhanced security in trade, finance and communications, APEC sources said.

Indonesia, which has been considered a weak link in the U.S.-led war on terrorism, has appealed to other APEC members to support its efforts to clamp down on extremist groups.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, meanwhile, told a press conference Thursday that the issue of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction should be dealt with as part of global efforts to combat terrorism.

APEC was created in 1989 to promote trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region. But it has taken up terrorism as a pressing issue after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon outside Washington.