Bush, “North Korea Must Disarm.”

The US President George W. Bush said that he would convince the North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-il to give up the development of nuclear weapons in cooperation with other countries, and announced that he was positive to peacefully solve the North Korean nuclear problems.

The President Bush said during a press conference after meeting the Secretary General of the NATO, George Robertson, “I see this incident as a chance to cooperate with allies and other countries to convince the President Kim that he must disarm and not spread massive killing weapons.”

The President Bush also said, “This is a chance for people who love freedom and peace to cooperate to deal with the new threat,” and “I believe that we can deal with this threat peacefully if we cooperate.”

It was the first time that the President Bush commented directly after North Korea acknowledged the development of nuclear weapons.

The President Bush added, “In order to solve the North Korean nuclear problems, I will discuss with the Chinese President Jang, Zeimin at the Crawford Ranch (in Texas) on the 25th.”

The President Bush announced that he would also discuss about the North Korean nuclear problems with leaders of Korea, Japan, and Russia during the Asia Pacific Economical Cooperation Summit in Mexico starting on the 26th.

In the meantime the White House Spokesman Erry Flisher responded coldly to the statement of North Korea, ‘we are willing to talk to America to clear the worries about nuclear problems,’ by saying, “We will examine what our next step might be.”

In relation to this, a high-ranking official of the Bush Administration said during a press conference with foreign reporters, “The Geneva Agreement was resolved since North Korea announced that she discarded it,” and “therefore, America has no obligation to observe the Geneva Agreement which has been resolved.” He also stressed that North Korea, “must resolve their nuclear development plan with a mean to examine.”

The Department of State Spokesman Richard Baucher stressed about the renegotiation of the Geneva Agreement during a regular briefing, “We already stated clearly that this is not a matter of renegotiation.”

The Yomiuri Newspaper reported on the 22nd that the Japanese Government set a policy to stop the amity negotiation if North Korea would not show an attitude to give up the nuclear development during the negotiation for normalization of the diplomatic relations, which would be reinstated in Kula Lumpur, Malaysia on the 29th.

And the Foreign Ministers of the EU, who met in Luxemburg on the 21st, asked an explanation to North Korea about the nuclear development, and warned North Korea that the support of EU for the Light-Water Reactor Project for North Korea by KEDO might be cut.

Ki-Heung Han eligius@donga.com