NORTH KOREA: US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell arrived in Seoul yesterday after leaving Beijing pleased that China had not said it would veto a second resolution on Iraq and had promised to help pressure North Korea to end its nuclear weapons programme.
On the third leg of his Asian tour, Mr Powell faces a tougher time in South Korea, where President Roh Moo-hyun is about to be inaugurated. Buoyed by a rising tide of anti-US feeling, Mr Roh wants to persuade the US to accede to Pyongyang's wishes and open direct talks.
The theme was also taken up by outgoing president Mr Kim Dae Jung. "More than anything, dialogue between North Korea and the United States is the important key to a solution," he said.
In China, concerns about America's assertive rhetoric are far more muted, despite a number of papers running pieces critical of the US push towards war and airing the views of academics who see behind Washington's moves a plot to control the world.
No anti-American protests have been permitted in Beijing, and the reported statements of both President Jiang Zemin and his successor, Mr Hu Jintao, have emphasised the need to further strengthen bilateral relations.
China is running a record $100 billion-plus trade surplus with the US, and must consider the consequences for its growing dependency on imported oil if and when Iraq's oil exports come under American control.
Mr Powell held talks with both men and with Chinese Foreign Minister Mr Tang Jiaxuan.
Mr Tang told Mr Powell that most members of the international community, including China, believed it was imperative to continue weapons inspections in Iraq to find out the truth, rather than working on a new UN resolution.
At the same time, he said China had always held that resolution 1441 must be implemented in a "comprehensive, sincere and precise way, and Iraq should be more active and unconditional in its all-round co-operation with the United Nations".
"Iraq's weapons of mass destruction must be completely destroyed," he said.
Mr Powell said it would have been inappropriate for him to support or not veto a new UN Security Council resolution because it had not yet been tabled and any vote is likely to be two weeks off. However he warned: "If Iraq does not comply and the UN refuses to act, it will be a bad day for the UN."