San Diego Union Tribune November 17, 2005 Bush: N. Korea must dismantle nukes By George E. Condon Jr. COPLEY NEWS SERVICE GYEONGJU, South Korea – President Bush today sought to shore up support for a tough, no-compromise approach to North Korea, insisting again on a non-nuclear Korean peninsula and working to smooth over differences with South Korea's government. Emerging from a meeting with South Korea President Roh Moo-hyun, Bush said he is working here to come up with a strategy "to get North Korea to implement what it said it would do, which is to verifiably get rid of its nuclear weapons and programs." Presenting a united allied demand for the dismantling of North Korea's nuclear weapons program is a key goal for the president during his three days in South Korea to attend an annual summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, which includes the four countries involved along with the United States in talks with North Korea – South Korea, Russia, China and Japan. At a brief news conference, he said he will remind those other leaders that "it's in the world's interests" that they stick to their demands when dealing with North Korea. Roh has urged a more conciliatory approach to North Korea and has been more amenable to providing Pyongyang more incentives to cooperate and surrender its nuclear arsenal. He has balked at any talk of the use of military force against North Korea if diplomacy fails, and he has resisted seeking sanctions from the U.N. Security Council against the North. But here, standing next to Bush, Roh downplayed any disagreements, saying he plans to work closely with the United States despite what he called "complexities" in the relationship. And he said that in his session with Bush "we reiterated that a nuclear-armed North Korea will not be tolerated." He quickly added that "we affirmed that the issue should be resolved through peaceful and diplomatic means." Briefing reporters aboard Air Force One on the way to South Korea, Bush's second stop in a four-nation Asian tour, Michael Green, senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council, acknowledged that Roh's tone is different from Bush's. But he stressed that both leaders share the same goal. "Roh has made it clear that he finds the presence of any North Korean nuclear weapons unacceptable," Green said. The different approaches, he suggested, stem from Roh's hopes to someday see the two Koreas united. Bush's resolve was signaled even before he arrived here from Japan and before he sat down in this historic, 1,000-year-old former capital with Roh. "An armistice – a truce – freezes the battle lines from a war that has never really come to an end," he said in a speech in Kyoto, Japan, designed to sketch his vision for Asia. "The pursuit of nuclear weapons threatens to destabilize the region. Satellite maps of North Korea show prison camps the size of whole cities, and a country that at night is clothed in almost complete darkness." Bush said the most recent talks with North Korea had yielded promises to rid the peninsula of nuclear weapons. "These commitments must be implemented," he said. "That means a comprehensive diplomatic effort from all the countries involved, backed by firm resolve. We will not forget the people of North Korea." »Next Story»