(Recasts with Bush, Lee comments) By Matt Spetalnick and Jack Kim SEOUL, Aug 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak pressed North Korea on Wednesday to agree on a verification plan for its nuclear weapons programme or continue to face international isolation. The two leaders publicly skirted other issues that have plagued their brief five-month relationship, including the controversial South Korean decision to only partly lift a ban on American beef imports. Instead, Bush and Lee presented a united front on the need to set up a process for verifying details of North Korea's programme to develop nuclear weapons, which is being dismantled, before handing Pyongyang additional economic and diplomatic benefits. "I'm concerned about its uranium enrichment activities as well as its nuclear testing and proliferation, its ballistic missile programmes," Bush told reporters during a news conference after meeting with Lee. "The best way to approach and answer those concerns is for there to be strong verification measures," Bush said. His stand was echoed by Lee, who took office in February promising a tougher approach than his left-of-centre predecessors to dealing with the communist North. "Our goal is firm and it is that the Korean peninsula must be denuclearised. If we work with patience and consistency, verification can be done perfectly, and I believe North Korea should cooperate on this," Lee said. A major concern by Washington has been whether the reclusive communist North Korean government has shared any of its nuclear weapons technology with other countries that could use it to attack the United States. Bush called it a "positive step" that North Korea blew up a cooling tower at its aging Yongbyon nuclear plant in June. In response to the declaration, the United States did lift some sanctions under its Trading with the Enemy Act. Even so, Bush said he still considered Pyongyang part of an "axis of evil", a moniker he branded North Korea, Iran and Iraq with in 2002 because he said they sought weapons of mass destruction that could be used for attacks on U.S. allies or to blackmail the United States. The United States, China, Russia, South Korea and Japan have been negotiating for years with Pyongyang, offering economic and humanitarian aid in exchange for the reclusive government giving up its nuclear ambitions. SPONSORS OF TERRORISM The United States has told communist North Korea it could be removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism as early as Aug. 11 if a rigorous verification process is established, but the discussions have been lengthy. "They've got a lot to do, they've got to ... show us a verification regime that we can trust," Bush said. "This is a step-by-step process. I don't know whether or not they're going to give up their weapons." There was a small anti-U.S. protest Tuesday evening in the capital to mark Bush's arrival, a sign of the lingering anger that has plagued the Lee government after it agreed to resume imports of American beef, now hitting store shelves for the first time in years after a mad cow disease scare. But the protesters were outnumbered by about 15,000 conservatives who held a pro-U.S. prayer rally, a rare event for Bush, unpopular in much of the world over wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. On Wednesday, Bush was welcomed on the front steps of the presidential Blue House by a military honour guard, bands playing both national anthems and a group of several dozen flag-waving school children. "The majority of the Korean people have been eagerly awaiting your visit this time," Lee told Bush. "Of course behind those people, there were those people who were sort of opposed but their numbers were limited," Lee said, drawing a chuckle and a smile from Bush. Bush responded: "Ours is a vital relationship and our three meetings will only strengthen the relationship. I admire your forthrightness, your integrity." The leaders also discussed a free trade agreement signed last year but yet to go through eithers' legislatures. "(It) will help lift the Korean economy up a level ... President Bush and I promised to do our best to get it passed within this year," he said. (Additional reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky; Editing by Jonathan Thatcher and Jerry Norton)
Festus Mogae, former president of Botswana, attends the 17th International AIDS Conference in Mexico City August 5, 2008. Former leaders of African countries ravaged by AIDS are launching a regional campaign ...
