COMMENT

It doesn't help Prime Minister Julia Gillard that she has to stand alongside Barack Obama as she endeavours to show her mettle on the world stage.

Gillard seems to be struggling to find a receptive audience in Korea. Credit:Reuters

A moment ago at the global nuclear summit in Seoul the US president warmly grasped the hand of China's Hu Jintao, hugged South Korea's Lee Myung-Bak and shared a grin with Russia's Dmitry Medvedev - after their private words the day before had been caught on a hot microphone, triggering a minor global scandal.

Mr Obama leaned forward in his chair to implore more than 50 world leaders to prevent nuclear material falling into the wrong hands and killing "hundreds of thousands of innocent people".