WASHINGTON: In the end, the first official U.S. summit between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President George W. Bush boiled down to a relaxed talk between "Shinzo" and "George." The two-day visit was as much about showing the world evidence of a developing friendship as it was about any grand strategic announcements.
Bush and Abe urged North Korea to live up to nuclear disarmament promises; Abe repeated an apology for the sexual slavery endured by thousands of Asian women at the hands of Japan's military in World War II; and Bush pressed Japan to accept U.S. beef imports.
But in the meeting that ended Friday at Bush's mountain retreat north of Washington, the leaders of the world's richest countries also took time to show that their nations' security and economic ties are underpinned by an expanding friendship.
At a press conference at the Camp David presidential retreat, Bush extended Abe a coveted invitation to his private ranch in Texas — what he called "a little slice of heaven." The men addressed each other by their first names, and Bush expressed his admiration for Abe's glamorous wife, Akie, praising the prime minister for marrying well.
Nothing in the visit rivaled Bush's farewell gift to Abe's predecessor as prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, who was treated to a presidential tour of Elvis Presley's Graceland home.
But Abe and Bush seemed eager to show that this trip contained more warmth than the usual official visit. "Our talks were very relaxed, but they were strategic," Bush said. "The alliance between Japan and the United States has never been stronger."
A large part of their meetings focused on efforts to pressure North Korea to abandon its nuclear program. The chief U.S. negotiator at six-nation nuclear talks, Christopher Hill, briefed them Friday on their status.
Bush and Abe threatened tough action against Pyongyang if it did not begin scrapping its bombs, as stipulated in a February agreement. North Korea missed a deadline two weeks ago to shut down its nuclear reactor.
On another subject, Abe apologized for the Japanese military's actions in forcing girls and women to work in military brothels during World War II. Abe angered many in Asia and the United States last month by suggesting there was no evidence the Japanese Imperial Army had directly coerced Asian women to work in brothels.
"I, as prime minister of Japan, express my apologies, and also express my apologies for the fact that they were placed in that sort of circumstance," Abe said in his Camp David remarks. Abe said he sought to clarify his remarks in his meetings with members of Congress on Thursday.
Democratic Rep. Mike Honda, a sponsor of a nonbinding congressional resolution demanding that Japan formally apologize for its role in coercing women into sexual slavery, said he was heartened by Abe's apology.
"The logical extension of Mr. Abe's remarks is now for the government of Japan to endorse the prime minister's personal sentiments in a formal, official and unambiguous fashion," Honda said in a statement.
A U.S. decision to allow the return of $25 million (€18 million) in disputed North Korean money in an attempt to move the disarmament process forward has been criticized in Japan as a sign of U.S. softness.
Bush addressed this issue, saying, "There's a financial arrangement that we're now trying to clarify for the North Koreans, so that that will enable them to have no excuse for moving forward."
"I think it's wise to show the North Korean leader as well that there's a better way forward. I wouldn't call that soft," Bush said.
Abe said he raised with Bush the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s. Pyongyang sent home five of the 13 people it admitted having abducted, but it insisted the rest were dead. Japan has demanded proof and says more of its citizens may have been taken.
Until the issue is resolved, Tokyo has vowed to take a hard line. It has refused to provide energy and economic aid to North Korea or to normalize relations.
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