Lima: Representatives of the nations trying to get North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program have agreed to meet next month, the White House said today.
White House press secretary Dana Perino said US President George W Bush, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak agreed to hold the meeting in an attempt to reach agreement on the verification of North Korea s nuclear declaration and disabling of its nuclear facilities.
Perino said the leaders agreed on a date in early December but would leave it to China to make it public.
"They have it worked out and China will announce it," Perino said. "There is a sense that this meeting will happen."
US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said there is unity among the leaders involved in the six-party talks as they try to get North Korea to give up its nuclear bomb-making process by allowing inspectors to verify what is being done inside the secretive country.
Bush, meanwhile, urged other countries in a time of severe financial crisis not to repeat mistakes that turned a similar calamity seven decades ago into the Great Depression. He said nations should spurn calls to erect protectionist trade barriers and keep pushing to liberalise trade.
