South Korea gears up for challenge of Bush visit

South Korea gears up for challenge of Bush visit

Reuters, Seoul

South Korea geared up on Friday for a visit by U.S. President George W. Bush, whose recent harsh comments about North Korea underscored a rift between two allies at one of the world's most dangerous flashpoints.

On arguably the most difficult stop of an Asian tour that also includes Japan and China, Bush meets South Korean President Kim Dae-jung next week with Seoul still reeling from his remarks branding North Korea, Iraq and Iran an "axis of evil".

Even before the bombshell speech, many South Koreans blamed Bush, who will hold his third summit with Kim on Feb. 20, for undermining Kim's Nobel Peace Prize-winning "sunshine policy" of engaging North Korea with his hawkish stance toward Pyongyang.

Kim, who has just a year left in office, has scrambled to salvage his North Korea policy and fend off domestic critics who say he has neglected Seoul's alliance with the United States, which keeps 37,000 troops in the South as a war deterrent.

"The main agenda will be how to close the gap that has appeared between the two governments: the gap over perception of and policy toward North Korea," said Lee Jung-hoon, professor of international relations at Yonsei University in Seoul.

South Korea has been alternately soothed by assurances the United States is committed to talks with North Korea and alarmed by stern American words since Bush's "axis of evil" speech.

On Friday, Seoul announced Kim and Bush would appear at the last South Korean stop on a railway line severed since the 1950- 53 Korean War cemented the division of Korea.

South Korea opened a rail line to Dorasan station on Tuesday and urged the communist North to match the gesture to keep pledges the two Koreas made at Kim's landmark summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in June 2000.

North Korea has walked away from goodwill projects over what it calls the hostile policies of Bush.