voa标准英语2008年-US President-Elect Promises Stronger Alliance W
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South Korea had its first real brush of contact with the incoming Obama administration Friday. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak spoke1 on the phone with his soon-to-be U.S. counterpart, President-elect Barack Obama. VOA's Kurt Achin has more from Seoul. |
| President-elect Barack Obama is accompanied by foreign policy adviser2 Denis McDonough as he leaves a meeting in Chicago, 06 Nov 2008 |
President-elect Barack Obama told South Korean President Lee Myung-bak Friday he has great admiration3 admiration for Korea and its people.
The two spoke on the phone Friday morning in Seoul, mostly in English without the aid of interpretation4. President Lee's spokesman, Lee Dong-gwan, says the two vowed5 to cement their countries' alliance of more than half a century.
He says Mr. Obama assured Mr. Lee the U.S. and South Korea are already close, but hopes to further advance the relationship. A strengthened U.S.-South Korea alliance, said Mr. Obama, will lay a groundwork for peace and security in Asia.
The United States stations about 28,000 troops here in South Korea, to deter6 or defeat any repeat of North Korea's 1950 invasion.
Mr. Lee and Mr. Obama agreed to meet at the soonest possible opportunity. That could come as early as next week, when both plan to attend a Washington summit on the financial crisis hosted by President Bush.
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| Lee Myung-bak (File) |
President Lee's main political opponent says he is looking forward to an Obama administration. Chung Sye-kyun, chairman of South Korea's Democratic Party, says he finds Mr. Obama's victory "encouraging."
He recalls Mr. Obama's promise to be proactive in purusing dialogue with North Korea to resolve the issue of the North's nuclear weapons.
Chung and his party support a conciliatory policy toward the North, and have initiated7 most of the inter-Korean aid and cooperation projects of the past ten years. They are critical of both President Lee and President Bush for taking what they call a "hardline" approach toward Pyongyang.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, expected to be a senior foreign policy advisor8 to Mr. Obama, was in Seoul Friday, and was scheduled to meet with President Lee. He said there was no doubt in his mind Mr. Obama would have a "similar approach" to North Korea as the Bush administration. He says President Obama will likely adhere to a six-nation framework for addressing the nuclear issue, even though it is not perfect.
Diplomats9 from the United States and the two Koreas met late Thursday night in New York. Senior North Korean envoy10 Ri Gun offered reporters his own take on the American transition of power.
He says we have dealt with many U.S. administrations so far, including those that managed to hold talks with us and those that tried to isolate11 us. He says, we are ready to respond to any administration's North Korean policies.
