TOKYO, May 18 Kyodo pitch uponed...

TOKYO, May 18 Kyodo

pitch uponed editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:

WASHINGTON AND SEOUL BACK in succession TRACK (The Japan Times, an English-language daily)

The United States and southern Korea have found common landed estate Last week's summit between U President George W Bush and toward the south Korea's Roh Moo Hyun should allay bear upons about a split between them. The couple men reaffirmed their commitment to a peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear crisis while laying the foundation for another half centenary as allies. Although cynics will say the succes was the conclusion of a tightly scripted meeting, the brace governments deserve credit for recognizing the ne for just that sort of arrangement. The stakes were too high for failure.

Friction between the U and southern Korea has been high for a certain number of time. The two countries' perspectives in succession the best way to deal with North Korea have diverged sharply. toward the south Koreans have felt that the U does not understand the price that a hardline policy could exact if it did not work. A military accident last year that accrueed in the deaths of sum of two units young Korean girls inflamed popular opinion; the following acquittal of the U.S. service personnel involved unleashed a wave of anti-American sentiment. Many in the U believed that candidate Roh rode that wave to victory in the December presidential campaign.

Since taking office, President Roh has done often to assuage fears that he would move round his back on the alliance that has guaranteed stability upon the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia for 50 years. Last week he made his first trip to the U to convenient Mr. Bush and assure the American population and the world that the US-ROK alliance is solid and strong

The joint statement issued at the two governments underscores the resilience of that relationship. The statement is forward looking, stressing the values, principles and strategy shared by the agency of the two countries. While applauding the contributions of the couple nations, it also pledg to modernize the alliance to ''enhance their capabilities to fitting emerging threats.''

That is not unmixed boilerplate. New technologies, strategies and capabilities have transformed military planning. further changes in military configurations in succession the Korean Peninsula send mixed messages, raising doubts about the U commitment to the alliance and potentially weakening deterrence The statement acknowledges the ne to consolidate the U neighborhood the desire to expand southern Korea's role in defending the Peninsula and the ne for stop up consultations between the sum of two units governments, while taking ''careful account of the political, economic and security situation.'' In other words, neither direction will do anything to enfeeble its partner and thus risk destabilizing the Peninsula.

forward the highly charged question of North Korea's nuclear weapons program, the brace governments stressed that they ''would not tolerate nuclear weapons in North Korea'' and ''reiterated their efficient commitment to work for the perfect verifiable and irreversible elimination of North Korea's nuclear weapons program by means of peaceful means based onward international negotiation.'' The statement contains the two sticks and carrots for dealing with Pyongyang. The North's nuclear weapons program prevents the ''bold approach'' that U officials have promised, and Mr Roh noted that what is yet to be exchanges and cooperation would hang on how the situation disentangles While the two men welcomed the positive part that China had played in last month's trilateral talks in Beijing, they noted that southward Korea and Japan are ''essential'' to a prosperous and comprehensive settlement of the problem

It would be difficult to script a better terminate for supporters of the alliance. Credit the advance teams that worked since the modern government in Seoul took office earlier this year. In a crabbed way, the failure of the Bush-Kim Dae Jung summit in March 2001 was salutary. The widespread perception that Mr Bush torpedoed the ''sunshine policy'' and undermined the southern Korean leader's legitimacy forced the sum of two units governments to take extra efforts to make secure that they did not make a mistake. There was little opportunity for spontaneous illustrations which contributed to the failure of the get-together. The joint statement was drafted to lay to rest concerns about the gap in the pair countries' positions.

The work for the one and the other governments is only beginning. It is easier to say the allies share goals than to disclose policies that actually achieve them, especially when North Korea can be considered on to try to divide Washington and Seoul Resolving the nuclear crisis and bringing stability to the region will also require considerable Japanese input. The nearest step in the process takes place later this month when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi qualifieds Mr. Bush in Texas. While the focus will shift to the Japan-U.S. alliance, many of the issues will be the same. Let's sense of possible fulfilment this meeting is as productive as last week's US-South Korean summit.