North Korea must not squander momentum created by top-level discussions of its nuclear weapons programs on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit, South Korea's top diplomat said on Sunday. Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said U.S. President George W. Bush's meetings with counterparts from South Korea, China, Japan and Russia provided a chance to jump start stalled talks on the North Korean nuclear impasse. "This kind of diplomatic effort will help to create a very favorable atmosphere and we sincerely hope North Korea will not lose this opportunity," he told Reuters. "It's our firm determination to keep this momentum alive," he said in an interview on the last day of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in the Chilean capital. The 21-member APEC, which focuses on trade issues, includes five of the six parties to long-running negotiations on the North Korean nuclear issue, excluding only the North. Bush emerged from talks with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, Chinese President Hu Jintao, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Russian President Vladimir Putin citing progress in forging a "common voice" on North Korea. Ban said South Korea, a key American ally that shares a tense border with North Korea, felt reassured that Bush made the nuclear impasse a "high-priority issue" even as he grappled with war-torn Iraq and Iran's nuclear ambitions. --More 2317 Local Time 2017 GMT
