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         US Cites Slow Progress on Nuclear Security, More Work Remains

   by Pamela Dockins

   U.S. President Barack Obama says that in the wake of attacks in
   Brussels and elsewhere, there is "not only great urgency around the
   nuclear issue, but eliminating generally the scourge of terrorism."

   The president will speak Friday at the end of the second and final day
   of the [1]Nuclear Security Summit. He is expected to highlight the Iran
   nuclear deal as an example of progress toward denuclearization.

   Obama's fourth and final nuclear summit comes at a time of heightened
   concern about the possibility that Islamic State militants could set
   off radioactive bombs, and also about North Korea's nuclear weapons
   development.
   As world leaders - some of whom are from countries directly impacted by
   terrorist attacks -  were arriving in Washington to attend the summit,
   news came that Pyongyang had fired a suspected ballistic missile off
   its east coast.

   At a State Department ministerial level dinner, Secretary of State John
   Kerry said nuclear security progress at times has been slow, and there
   remains an "enormous amount more to do," adding "but every step forward
   that we take is a step away from danger."
   WATCH: Obama Hosts White House Dinner for 50 leaders

   ''Bilateral meetings

   Obama held a series of meetings with South Korean President Park
   Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to discuss the North
   Korean threat.

   Pyongyang was also among the focal points when Obama sat down later
   with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

   "We want to enhance communication and coordination on the Korean
   nuclear issue and other regional and global issues," Xi said at the top
   of the talks.

   Washington views Beijing, Pyongyang's ally, as key in enforcing U.N.
   sanctions against North Korea for its weapons development.

   Terrorism fight
   In a later meeting, Obama praised French President Francois Hollande
   for "galvanizing the European community" in the fight against terror.
   The president also held bilateral talks with Turkey's President Recep
   Tayyip Erdogan.

   In a [2]Washington Post opinion article, Obama said world powers would
   address threats posed by terrorist groups such as Islamic State.

   "We will join allies and partners in reviewing our counterterrorism
   efforts, to prevent the world's most dangerous networks from obtaining
   the world's most dangerous weapons," Obama said.
   As the summit got underway, the White House released a statement saying
   the U.S. had declassified and released data on the national inventory
   of highly enriched uranium. It said inventories decreased from about
   741 to 586 metric tons between 1996 and 2013.

   VOA White House correspondent Mary Alice Salinas and Ken Bredemeier
   contributed to this report.
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   [3]http://www.voanews.com/content/us-cites-slow-progess-on-nuclear-secu
   rity-more-work-remains/3264292.html

References

   1. http://www.nss2016.org/
   2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/obama-how-we-can-make-our-vision-of-a-world-without-nuclear-weapons-a-reality/2016/03/30/3e156e2c-f693-11e5-9804-537defcc3cf6_story.html
   3. http://www.voanews.com/content/us-cites-slow-progess-on-nuclear-security-more-work-remains/3264292.html