Bush says US willing to give N.Korea guarantees ( 2003-10-22 21:13) (Reuters)
US President George W. Bush said on Wednesday the United States and its
partners were all willing to sign a document declaring "we won't attack you" so
long as North Korea agrees to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
North Korea has dismissed the US offer of multilateral security guarantees as
laughable.
"I guess they're trying to stand up to the five nations that are now uniting
in convincing North Korea to disarm and my only reaction is we'll continue to
send a very clear message to the North Koreans," Bush said in Bali, Indonesia
before flying to Australia.
Speaking with reporters later aboard Air Force One, Bush said the United
States and its partners in the negotiations were "all willing to sign some sort
of document -- not a treaty -- that says, 'We won't attack you.' But he needs to
abandon his nuclear program in a verifiable way."
In a commentary published late on Tuesday, the communist North's official
KCNA news agency said Pyongyang wanted a bilateral treaty with the United States
-- a reference to its desire for a non-aggression pact Washington has ruled out.
During a Bangkok summit of Asia-Pacific leaders that ended on Tuesday, Bush
significantly shifted policy by saying he was sharing ideas on how to give North
Korea security guarantees short of a non-aggression treaty. All 20 other summit
leaders backed this stance.
North Korea was not present because it is not a member of the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. But it lost little time in shooting down the
idea.
"We have asked for the United States to stop its hostile policy and a
bilateral treaty between North Korea and the United States, and not for some
sort of security guarantee," said KCNA in a Korean-language commentary.
"It's laughable and doesn't deserve even any consideration that the United
States gives a security guarantee on the condition that we drop our nuclear
development."
Bush defended the APEC discussions at a news conference on this Indonesian
island, saying: "We had a really good visit at APEC about how best to resolve
the North Korean issue peacefully, how best to convince the North Koreans to
disarm, at least abandon their nuclear ambitions, nuclear weapons ambitions."
Asked about reports of at least one North Korean short-range missile test
during APEC, Bush said that was not helpful, adding in an apparent reference to
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il" "...he wanted to have dialogue. We're having
dialogue, and he wanted a security agreement and we're willing to advance a
multi-party security agreement, assuming that he is willing to abandon his
nuclear weapons designs and programmes."
Bush had some harsh words for Kim Jong-il. "You can't respect anyone who
would let his people starve and shrink in size because of malnutrition...It's so
sad for the North Korean people.... It is unconscionable that that many people
are starving in the 21st century... I feel strongly about failed leadership
dashing the hopes of the people."
Bush said Washington and its partners "will stay the course" despite
Pyongyang's response.
South Korea and the United States joined China, Japan and Russia in an
inconclusive first round of talks with North Korea on its nuclear ambitions in
Beijing in late August. A second round has yet to be arranged, but diplomats
expect one to be held next month or at least before the end of the
year.