Protests greet Bush amid tight S. Korean security<\/p>\n
Paul Eckert, Reuters, Seoul<\/p>\n
South Korea's capital bristled with 20,000 riot police on
\nWednesday as U.S. President George W. Bush met President Kim Dae-
\njung for talks on security and took a look into North Korea,
\nwhich he has called part of an "axis of evil".<\/p>\n
With leftist activists staging all-day protests against Bush's
\ntough stance on North Korea, the U.S. leader's route to Seoul's
\nBlue House presidential mansion was lined with fur-capped police
\nwith riot gear.<\/p>\n
A brief alarm was raised when thick black plumes of smoke rose
\nin central Seoul several blocks from the U.S. embassy and near
\nthe office of Boeing, a target of protests against U.S. arms
\nsales to South Korea.<\/p>\n
Firemen quickly quelled the blaze, which they said started in
\na seafood restaurant and had no link with anti-U.S. protests.<\/p>\n
In the largest of left-wing rallies, police got in a shoving
\nmatch with the front line of a 1,000-strong evening protest, then
\nturned on local journalists, pummeling a South Korean television
\nreporter and punching several photographers, witnesses said.<\/p>\n
About 30 activists clashed with police in the morning, trading
\npunches after they were prevented from delivering a protest
\nletter to Bush at the Blue House. They were detained.<\/p>\n
At Seoul's Maroni Park, hundreds of protesters, mostly radical
\nstudents and farmers, marched against Bush's visit and burned
\nhome-made U.S. flags.<\/p>\n
In a news conference after his talks with President Kim, Bush
\nstood by his tough words, saying North Korean leader Kim Jong-il
\nhad to earn his trust, but that the United States had no
\nintention of attacking the North.<\/p>\n
"I will not change my opinion on Kim Jong-il until he frees
\nhis people and accepts genuine proposals from countries such as
\nSouth Korea to dialog," Bush said.<\/p>\n
"I am concerned about a country that is not transparent, that
\ndevelops weapons of mass destruction," he said.<\/p>\n
South Koreans fear Bush will, at best, destroy Kim's delicate
\n"Sunshine Policy" of rapprochement with North Korea and, at
\nworst, bring his war on terrorism to their doorstep.<\/p>\n
Seoul and its 15 million people lie within artillery range of
\nNorth Korea's million-strong army. The United States has 37,000
\ntroops in the South and South Korea's forces number 680,000.<\/p>\n
The two Koreas are still in a technical state of war since
\ntheir 1950-53 war ended in an armed truce.<\/p>\n
South Korea had been bracing for tougher Bush words to come.<\/p>\n
"Officials here are keeping fingers crossed Bush would make no
\n'surprise remarks', heightening tensions unnecessarily," said the
\nKorea Herald in an editorial on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
President Kim said he and Bush saw eye to eye.<\/p>\n
"President Bush and I agreed to work with mutually consistent
\nand objective strategies in close consultation in pursuing North
\nKorean policy," he told the news conference.<\/p>\n
"I greatly appreciate President Bush's staunch support for our
\nSunshine Policy as well as the U.S.'s unconditional proposal for
\ndialog with North Korea," he said.<\/p>\n
Bush's tough words have gone down well with older Koreans,
\nincluding Korean War veterans and refugees from communist rule.<\/p>\n
"Describing the North as a member of the 'axis of evil' is a
\nrather strong expression, but it's not mistaken," said An Ung-mo,
\n71, leader of a group of Northern-born South Koreans.<\/p>\n
Many ordinary Koreans have also been upset by Bush's "axis of
\nevil" description of their communist cousins.<\/p>",
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