US President George W. Bush left today on a three-nation trip to Asia to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing and hold talks on trade, human rights and the denuclearisation of North Korea, a White House spokeswoman said.
Mr Bush was headed first to South Korea and Thailand, and then will attend the Olympics` opening ceremony in Beijing after rejecting repeated calls by activists to boycott the Games over China`s human rights record.
His first stop was to be at Eielson military base in Alaska to address US troops, thanking them for their service to the country.
Mr Bush was then to spend tomorrow and Wednesday in South Korea, where talks were to focus on North Korea`s agreement to disarm in a six-nation pact. He will be in Thailand on Thursday and Friday and then move on to China, where he was expected to stay through August 11.
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