Summit puts South in corner<\/p>\n
SEOUL (AFP): South Korean leader Kim Dae-jung was driven into
\ncorner on Monday by his political opponents after the leaders of
\nNorth Korea and Russia called for a withdrawal of U.S. forces
\nfrom the Korean peninsula.<\/p>\n
President Kim Dae-jung has said his North Korean counterpart
\nKim Jong-il at their summit in June 2000 did not oppose the U.S.
\npresence in the region left over since the two sides of the
\npeninsula split after the Korean War in 1953.<\/p>\n
But Kim Jong-il on Sunday during talks with Russian President
\nVladimir Putin in Moscow called on the United States to
\n\"urgently\" withdraw its 37,000 troops from the South.<\/p>\n
Opposition leader Lee Hoi-chang's Grand National Party (GNP)
\nsaid in a statement in Seoul Monday: \"It's a fiction that the
\nNorth has changed. The president either lied to the people or was
\ndeceived by the North.\"<\/p>\n
The GNP urged President Kim, who received the Nobel Peace
\nPrize for his contribution to peace on the peninsula, to clarify
\nthe situation.<\/p>\n
Lee, a strong candidate for next year's presidential
\nelections, demanded the government conduct a thorough review of
\nits diplomatic policy.<\/p>\n
Lee said: \"Our relationship with traditional allies is either
\ndeteriorating or at a standstill, but Russia expressed its
\nunderstanding at North Korea's position on U.S. forces in Korea.
\nI am concerned that our diplomatic standing is weakening.\"<\/p>\n
In reply South Korean Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Yim
\nSung-joon said: \"The issue of U.S. troops in South Korea is a
\nsubject to discussed between Seoul and Washington, not with a
\nthird party.\"<\/p>\n
In a statement signed by Putin and Kim Jong-il, Pyongyang said
\nthe withdrawal of U.S. troops was a \"pressing problem\" which
\nneeded to be solved to ensure \"peace and security on the Korean
\npeninsula.\"<\/p>\n
Moscow expressed its \"understanding\" of the North Korean
\nposition, stressing the need to ensure \"peace and stability on
\nthe Korean peninsula using peaceful means,\" Russian news agencies
\nreported.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il arrived in Russia's
\nsecond city Saint Petersburg on Monday, for a visit mixing
\nculture with a tour of a plant supplying the nuclear power
\nindustry.<\/p>\n
The reclusive Kim's train pulled into the city's Moskovsky
\nrailway station at 0900 am (12 at noon in Jakarta), where he was
\nmet by Saint Petersburg Governor Vladimir Yakovlev and President
\nVladimir Putin's regional envoy, Viktor Cherkesov.<\/p>\n
Tight security measures were in force, with all trains
\ncanceled for two-and-a-half hours as police cordoned off the
\nstation.<\/p>\n
Kim is due to return to Moscow on Tuesday and attend a series
\nof cultural events on Wednesday before starting the return
\njourney to Pyongyang that evening.<\/p>",
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