Bush proposes alternative to N. Korea standoff - Political Discussion

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Zahid
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Registered: 01/21/02
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Bush proposes alternative to N. Korea standoff

#2022914 - 10/19/03 03:06 PM (20 years, 5 months ago)

Bush proposes alternative to N. Korea standoff
Seeks multilateral agreement to halt nuclear weapons program

Sunday, October 19, 2003 Posted: 2:04 PM EDT (1804 GMT)

BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- President Bush on Sunday restated his opposition to a U.S. non-aggression pact with North Korea, while proposing multilateral security assurances if Pyongyang pledges to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

North Korea has demanded bilateral talks with the United States and refused to consider giving up its nuclear program without a non-aggression treaty with the United States.

"We will not have a treaty," the president told reporters. "That's off the table. Perhaps there are other ways we can look at -- to say exactly what I said publicly on paper, with our partners' consent."

Bush addressed the issue after a meeting with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra -- and pitched the idea later to Chinese President Hu Jintao, who will play a key role in the strategy for resuming dialogue with North Korea.

"He told President Hu that he's very committed to the six-party talks in which we are engaged, in which Beijing has been such an important player," National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said on ABC's "This Week."

"... The president made clear to President Hu that he is prepared to explore ways within the six-party context to address the security concerns that the North Koreans have put on the table," Rice said.

The other partners in the six-party dialogue are Japan, South Korea, China and Russia.

North Korea would not have to completely dismantle its nuclear weapons program before receiving the security assurances, a senior U.S. official said. The official said any security assurances or other measures that could be negotiated with North Korea would be "conditioned on verifiable progress" toward ending and dismantling its nuclear weapons program -- but not conditioned on finishing implementation of any agreement.

The Bush administration's efforts in talks to convince North Korea to halt reprocessing of nuclear fuel rods have been stymied in part because of Pyongyang's demands for a non-aggression pact with the U.S., a tactic the White House says is virtually nuclear blackmail.

But U.S. officials said Bush hoped to reach agreement with the Chinese president on an approach under which, in exchange for a verifiable end to the North Korea weapons program, the United States and all of its partners in the talks would agree in writing that their shared goal was a peaceful, non-nuclear Korean peninsula and that no parties to the talks had any hostile intentions toward or plans to attack the North.

Senior administration officials say their offer is not a formal treaty, but a less formal written agreement.

"North Korea is not gaining anything by being possessors of nuclear weapons," Secretary of State Colin Powell said on CNN's "Late Edition." "It doesn't help an economy that's in need, it doesn't feed anyone, and it doesn't scare anyone."

He said the United States is open to being a part of a broader agreement involving other Asian nations if North Korea abandons its nuclear ambitions and agrees to strict verification.

Bush arrived in Bangkok on Saturday, ahead of Monday's APEC summit, being held in the Thai capital amid tight security.

Leaders from Russia, China, Australia and 17 other nations will join Bush at the meeting in Bangkok. Trade and security are expected to dominate the talks, according to White House officials. One challenge for Bush will be winning more support for his policies toward Iraq and North Korea.

After the APEC meeting, Bush is scheduled to make brief visits to Singapore, Indonesia and Australia, before returning home on Friday.

Bush kicked off his eight-day, six-nation tour of Asia when he arrived in Tokyo, Japan, on Friday. There, he met with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to personally thank the Asian leader for pledging $1.5 billion in reconstruction aid for Iraq and lobbying U.N. Security Council members to support a new U.S.-backed resolution on Iraq.

On Saturday in Manila, Philippines, Bush became the first U.S. president to address the Philippine Congress since Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1960. In his speech, he praised the Philippine government in its fight against terrorism and for supporting the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

CNN's John King and Dana Bash contributed to this report.

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