NORTH KOREA NUCLEAR DISCUSSIONS

Peter Lang z Thajska: Washington's very public moves on North Korea have overshadowed this meeting of APEC leaders, with security, and not trade, very much at the top of the agenda. South Korea's national security advisor, Dr Ra Jong-Yil, said he was not surprised that the issue of North Korea was dominating discussions and he was very encouraged by the latest American ideas on trying to end the crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme. He stressed that the Americans had given no detail of what he called the security assurances that could be offered to the north. No one, he said, was privy to the actual wording or the means of implementing any security guarantee. Dr Ra said such details would have to be worked out by all six countries involved in efforts to resolve the nuclear crisis, including North Korea itself. He hoped such talks could take place by the end of the year. But for now, he said, positive progress was being made. VOCABULARYto overshadow - zatlačit něco do pozadí, zastínit APEC - Rada pro hospodářskou spolupráci Asie a Tichomoří at the top of the agenda - první na pořadu dne dominate - dominovat national security advisor - poradce pro otázky národní bezpečnosti to be privy to - být do něčeho zasvěcený actual wording - přesné znění security guarantee - bezpečnostní záruka to work out - vypracovat by the end of the year - koncem roku