NORTH KOREA:President George W Bush yesterday cautiously floated the possibility of a formal peace treaty with North Korea, to replace the uneasy truce which followed the 1950-1953 Korean war, but only if Pyongyang abandoned its nuclear weapons.
"We're looking forward to the day when we can end the Korean war. That will happen when Kim Jong-il verifiably dismantles his weapons programme," Mr Bush said after meeting South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun at an Asia-Pacific summit (Apec) in Australia.
Looking for a less circumspect position, Mr Roh asked his US counterpart to "be a little clearer" - there are, after all, several different kinds of peace regarding different conflicts and standoffs in the region.
Mr Bush said he meant a formal peace agreement and that he was "optimistic" about the progress of the effort to get North Korea to give up its weapons, but said there was still more work to be done.
In a sweep of regional issues, the US president went on to urge greater freedoms in China ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. "We urge China's leaders to use this moment to show confidence by demonstrating a commitment to greater openness and tolerance," he said.
Earlier this week he accepted an invitation from president Hu Jintao to attend the games.
Mr Bush then turned his attention to the military junta in Burma, criticising the military leadership there for attacking political activists.
On Thursday, hundreds of Buddhist monks held a group of government officials for several hours and set fire to their cars in anger against the military that rules the impoverished southeast Asian country.
Mr Bush demanded the immediate release of activists detained by the army and called on the ruling junta to stop "assaulting pro-democracy activists".
Just as it does in North Korea, China has considerable influence in Burma and it is keen to boost its international standing by playing a greater role in global diplomacy.
China is reportedly busy making moves in Burma.
The Chinese foreign ministry, while repeating its mantra that it shuns interference in the domestic affairs of other countries, said that it welcomed international efforts to improve the situation in Burma as long as it was done with a "constructive attitude and on the basis of mutual respect".