White House: Meeting set on North Korean nukes

Reuters – U.S. President George W. Bush speaks during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in …

• Slideshow: President Bush

LIMA, Peru – The White House said Saturday representatives of the nations trying to get North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program have agreed to meet next month.

White House press secretary Dana Perino told reporters after President George W. Bush's meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak that there was an agreement to have the meeting but that announcement of the actual date in early December would be left up to China to make public.

The goal at the meeting would be to get agreement on the verification of North Korean's nuclear declaration and disabling of its nuclear facilities.

In announcing that the countries had agreed on the date for the next round of six-party talks, Perino said, "They have it worked out and China will announce it. There is a sense that this meeting will happen."

National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe told reporters there is unity among the leaders involved in the six-party talks as they try to get North Korea to give up its nuclear bomb-making process by allowing inspectors to verify what is being done inside the secretive country.