Powell Stresses Diplomatic Effort, “Rules out War against North Korea”

Colin Powell, the U.S. Secretary of State, stated on the 12th that the U.S. has no plans for war against any country that is marked as part of the `axis of evil`.

Secretary Powell attended the U.S Congressional hearing of the Senate Budget Committee and said, "President George W. Bush has no plans to wage war against any country right now." and, "The U.S. prefers diplomatic effort to armed force in response to North Korea, Iran and Iraq."

He especially mentioned Iraq as "the alarming country." but regarding North Korea and Iran, he said, "We want to talk in place of war, discriminating between countries in `the axis of evil`."

In relation to this, the Bush administration decided the secondary goal for war against terrorism as subversion of the Iraqi government and is mobilizing diplomatic and military resources, New York Times reported on the 13th.

The New York Times reported, "There is agreement that only Iraq among `axis of evil` should be acted upon within the U.S government." and, "this decision became more clear with Secretary Powell`s statement before Congress on 12th."

Before this, President Bush stated on the 11th, "I will not leave anything out in handling the three countries, North Korea, Iraq and Iran." and added, "I will not allow these countries to threaten our way of life."

On the other hand, President Bush plans to declare the intent to talk with North Korea any time and anywhere in the meeting with Koizumi Junichiro, Prime Minister of Japan, in Tokyo on the 18th before visiting South Korea, reported the Tokyo Shinbun on the 10th.

Tokyo Shinbun quoted an authority in the Japan Foreign Affairs quarters and reported, "President Bush will express support for President Kim Dae-Jung`s policy, and Prime Minister Koizumi will welcome President Bush`s opinion and show that Japan will aggressively promote dialogue with North Korea."

eligius@donga.com