No Change in US Support of Sunshine Policy

The White House clarified on Thursday that President George W. Bush once again expressed support for Korea’s Sunshine Policy and that there is no change in policy from the US government.

White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer explained at the regular press briefing on the same day, “President Bush publicly stated his support for the Sunshine Policy. President Bush stated his position during his visit to Korea last year and he has stated it several times thereafter.”

To the question of asking any possibility of change in the position in the midst of recent tensions with North Korea, Press Secretary Fleischer explained, “There is no change.”

However, Press Secretary Fleicher strongly emphasized, “The approaching method used by President Bush for North Korea to clearly understand the necessity of renouncing its nuclear project, was multilateral but is a separate issue from the Sunshine Policy.”

“The Sunshine Policy is for the dealings of the current questions between South Korea and North Korea to be executed by only these two countries. President Bush firmly believes that the North Korea’s nuclear crisis can be resolved through diplomacy, especially through multilateral diplomacy”, he stated.

Moreover, US Secretary of State Collin Powell once again clarified at the hearing of the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives on March 13 that there won’t be any bilateral talks with North Korea since North Korea’s nuclear development program is not only the problem of the United States.

“We believe that North Korea’s nuclear development is a regional problem and it should be of interest to Japan, Korea, Russia, China and the rest of the world, not just a bilateral problem between the United States and North Korea”, he emphasized.

maypole@donga.com