Obama reaffirms safety commitment to South Korea, calls on North Korea to give up nuclear programme; Malaysia's opposition leader plans rally to protest alleged electoral fraud; Imran Khan conscious and stable in hospital after fall at rally; Brazilians wins top WTO job; and more
Top of the Agenda: Obama Reaffirms Security Commitment to South Korea
South Korean president Park Geun-hye held her first summit talk (Yonhap) with U.S. president Barack Obama in Washington on Tuesday, adopting a joint declaration that marks the sixtieth anniversary of their mutual defense treaty forged during the Korean War. Speaking at a joint White House press conference, Obama and Park issued a strong message of solidarity in calling on North Korea to give up its nuclear program (WaPo) in return for international aid and acceptance. Park will address a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday.
Analysis
"A combined U.S.-South Korea vision should urgently insist that North Korea must change, but the allies have not yet developed a detailed joint strategy for bringing about those changes. Diplomatic engagement with North Korea should be a part of the strategy, but diplomacy should not enable North Korea to buy time, lead to acceptance of a nuclear North Korea, or extend its disruptive influence in the region," writes Scott Snyder for CFR.
"[W]e can't expect China to do everything, and the Chinese also say they can't do everything. But I do believe there's room for them to undertake more with respect to some material aspects," says President Park Geun-hye in a Washington Post interview.
"Statements by the US and North Korea also largely avoid the question of whether sustained, official talks should be bilateral or multilateral. North Korea has long preferred to deal directly with its adversary. The Obama administration, on the other hand, seems wary of getting burned in another bilateral effort," writes Andrea Berger for the BBC.
PACIFIC RIM
Malaysia's Opposition Leader Plans Rally
Malaysia's opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is planning a rally against alleged electoral fraud after the nation's Sunday's election (al-Jazeera), which saw Prime Minister Najib Razak and his National Front coalition retain its fifty-six-year hold on power.
CFR's Joshua Kurlantzick discusses Malaysia's elections in this blog post.
ELSEWHERE:
Imran Khan in stable condition after fall
Brazilian wins top WTO job
This is an excerpt of the CFR.org Daily News Brief. The full version is available on CFR.org.