N Korea praises Bush

2005-06-03 10:46

Seoul - North Korea on Friday gave a rare positive appraisal of United States President George W Bush - noting his recent reference to leader Kim Jong Il using the title "Mr" - and said it hoped the softened tone could lead to its return to international nuclear arms talks.

"If Bush's remarks put an end to the scramble between the hawkish group and the moderate group in the US, which has thrown the Korean policy into a state of confusion, it would help create an atmosphere of the six-party talks," an unnamed North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

At a Tuesday news conference, Bush defended his focus on using diplomacy to try to coax North Korea back to six-nation disarmament talks as a way to resolve a standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons ambitions.

"It's a matter of continuing to send a message to Mr Kim Jong Il that if you want to be accepted by the neighbourhood and be a part of ... those who are viewed with respect in the world, work with us to get rid of your nuclear weapons programme," Bush said.

The North said on Friday that it had noted Bush was reported as "politely addressing our headquarters of revolution," a reference to Kim.

"We will closely follow if his remarks would not change day and night as this happened in the past," the spokesperson said.

The United States - along with China, Japan, Russia and South Korea - are trying to convince the North to return to the talks last held in June 2004. Since then, the North has stayed away from the table citing a "hostile" US policy and claimed in February that it had nuclear weapons.

The North has also demanded an apology for US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice labelling the country one of the world's "outposts of tyranny."

On Friday, the North again asked for the US to make a "bold decision to withdraw the remark ... to remove the biggest hurdle lying in the way of resuming the six-party talks."

The softer tone from the North came a day after it had labelled US vice-president Dick Cheney a "bloodthirsty beast" and said his recent comment labeling Kim an "irresponsible" leader were another reason for it to stay away from the nuclear talks.

This week, the North also took a personal swipe at Rice, using sexist language laced with insults to imply she was controlling the White House.

- AP