Korean summit gets cautious U.S. welcome

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States gave a cautious welcome on Tuesday to a rare summit between North and South Korea, but experts said the talks will be judged on whether they help advance nuclear disarmament.

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun was greeted by reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang on Tuesday and the two leaders will meet formally on Wednesday.

It is only the second summit on the divided Korean peninsula.

"Hopefully it can contribute to peace and security. Ultimately it needs to lead to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, who declined further comment before the talks.

Roh has made plain he wants the summit to ease tensions between the foes along the Cold War's last frontier and help the economy of North Korea.

But Seoul has been reticent about whether Roh will prod Kim on implementing a six-country accord in which North Korea gives up its nuclear weapons in exchange for massive aid and an end to its pariah status.

Analysts said Roh could advance the nuclear agreement struck by the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States in 2005 and reconfirmed in February, following a North Korean nuclear test nearly a year ago.

"As much as he wants to move toward more economic integration between the two countries because that would serve peace and reconciliation, I hope that he makes the denuclearization of the peninsular the number one priority," said Wendy Sherman, a senior U.S. negotiator with the North Koreans during the Clinton administration.

"There's a lot of carrots, but there always needs to be sticks," said Sherman, who now holds a senior position at the Albright Group. The group's founder, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, was the highest ranking U.S. official ever to meet Kim Jong-il.

Sherman said the summit may have been made easier by apparent progress at six-party talks last week in Beijing, which produced a tentative deal for North Korea to disclose all its nuclear programs and to disable its Yongbyon atomic plant.

"The six-party talks seem to be headed on a positive trajectory with some momentum," Sherman said. "That at least gives him a frame that puts him in concert with the members of the six-party talks as opposed to going against the grain."

Heritage Foundation Korea expert Bruce Klingner said Roh's eagerness to provide aid to North Korea and his government's history of not demanding reciprocity from Pyongyang posed the risk of creating an "alternative source of aid to North Korea that it can get without fulfilling its obligations."

"If Roh does it properly it could further the cause of denuclearization," said Klingner, a former CIA analyst.

"But if he doesn't do it well, then it runs the danger of not only simply providing more aid to North Korea, but actually working counter to the principles of the six-party talks."