White House: Meeting set on North Korean nukes

White House press secretary Dana Perino told reporters on Saturday, 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 the actual date in early December would be left to China to announce.

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."

Attending his final global summit at a time of severe financial crisis, Bush urged other countries not to repeat mistakes that turned a similar calamity seven decades ago into the Great Depression.

He said that nations should spurn calls to erect protectionist trade barriers and keep pushing to liberalize trade.

"One of the enduring lessons of the Great Depression is that global protectionism is a path to global economic ruin," Bush said in comments to business executives of Pacific Rim countries.

Bush was in Lima to attend his eighth and final meeting of the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

Bush said he understands that countries are being hurt by the financial crisis, which started in the United States. But he said that because the economic problems are so widespread, all nations--both developed and developing nations--must work together to find solutions.

He warned that it's also essential that nations resist the "temptation to overcorrect" to fix the fiscal crisis. Bush has argued that it would be a mistake to over-regulate financial markets, saying what is needed is better regulation not more regulation.

"Recovering from the financial crisis is going to take time, but we'll recover and so begin a new era of economic prosperity," Bush declared.