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PacNet #20 – Bush-Roh: Closing the Gap

WASHINGTON, DC – The summit meeting between U.S. President George W. Bush and ROK President Roh Moo-Hyun was, by almost all accounts, a success. The main reason, according to the skeptics, was that expectations were very low. No major breakthroughs were achieved, they argue; "success" merely meant there were no major gaffes (along the lines that caused Bush’s first meeting with Roh’s predecessor, Kim Dae-Jung, to be proclaimed a disaster). This was "confirmed" by the summit story’s placement on page two of The Washington Post. "Bush Screws Up . . . Again" would have made page one; "Bush Gets It Right" (the actual headline was "President Sees Progress’ on N. Korea") is page two news.