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Obama calls S.Korea's Lee on nuclear issue

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-03 14:40

WASHINGTON -- US President Barack Obama spoke on Monday with his counterpart Lee Myung-bak of the Republic of Korea over the phone, vowing to strengthen cooperation on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, the White House said.

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The two leaders "agreed to work closely as allies and through the six-party talks to achieve the verifiable elimination" of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) nuclear weapons and programs, spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

"In a warm and substantive talk, the president conveyed his deep commitment to the US-Republic of Korea alliance. Both presidents expressed their intention to expand cooperation on global issues," Gibbs said.

Ahead of the phone conversation with Lee, Obama has called Chinese President Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, expressing his willingness to strengthen cooperation on regional and global issues.

Reports on Monday quoted US officials as saying that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to visit China, Japan and the Republic of Korea in the next week.

The Obama administration is reviewing its policies toward Pyongyang and the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, according to State Department spokesman Robert Wood.

In a related development, US envoy to the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, Christopher Hill, is expected to be named US ambassador to Iraq, ABC News reported on Monday.

As Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Hill has worked for almost four years as chief of the US delegation to the six-party talks, a multilateral mechanism on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.