'We won't tolerate nuclear weapons'

2003-05-24 09:55

Crawford, Texas - US President George W Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi vowed on Friday not tolerate nuclear weapons in North Korea, advancing US efforts to forge a united front in the region.

"The prime minister and I see the problem exactly the same way," Bush said after meeting with Koizumi at his Texas ranch.

"We will not tolerate nuclear weapons in North Korea. We will not give in to blackmail. We will not settle for anything less than the complete, verifiable and irreversible elimination of North Korea's nuclear weapons program."

Neither side laid out any specific new steps, but agreed that Japan and South Korea should eventually join the talks begun last month in Beijing gathering China, the United States and North Korea.

"We can't enter into real negotiations as long as the Japanese and the South Koreans aren't there," a senior Bush administration official said.

Koizumi said that "coordination among Japan, the United States and the Republic of Korea is crucial" to resolving the crisis peacefully.

"Continuation of the multilateral talks is important, and participation by Japan and the Republic of Korea is essential," he said.

At the Beijing talks, North Korea offered to ditch its nuclear and missile programs in return for economic and diplomatic payoffs.

The United States sees such proposals as "blackmail," and has sought to line up other nations in the region in opposing the North Korean stance.

The two leader's remarks echoed almost verbatim the statement made last week after South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun met Bush in Washington, calling for more diplomacy but warning of tougher measures if the nuclear crisis escalates.

Koizumi also vowed to "crack down more rigorously on illegal activities," apparently referring to claims made earlier this week that a passenger ferry from Japan was used to smuggle missile components to North Korea.

An alleged North Korean defector, who said he was a former missile scientist, told the a US congressional panel that a group of ethnic Koreans in Japan had regularly smuggled missile parts to North Korea on a passenger-cargo ship plying a standard route between the two countries.

Aside from North Korea's nuclear arms programme, Japan has been angry with North Korea's refusal to cooperate in dealing with Japanese nationals who were kidnapped by North Korean agents for spy training during the Cold War years.

Bush gave strong support to Koizumi over the kidnappings, saying "the United States will stand squarely with Japan until all Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korea are fully accounted for."

The talks at Bush's Texas ranch came just days after North Korea launched its strongest attack on the South since the nuclear crisis erupted seven months ago, in the Pyongyang regime's first public reaction to the US-South Korea summit.

North Korea threatened South Korea with "unspeakable disaster" if Seoul aligned itself with Washington against the Stalinist state.

The invitation to Koizumi for an overnight stay at the ranch, extended only to a handful of leaders, has been seen as a gesture of thanks of Japanese support during the US-led war in Iraq.

The two leaders spent a considerable amount of time in informal, one-on-one talks, including a lengthy drive around the ranch and two hours by the pool on Thursday evening, a senior administration official said.

Bush poured praise on Koizumi for supporting the US-led war in Iraq, and hailed Japan's involvement in the reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Koizumi was set to leave on Friday evening for visits to Egypt and Saudi Arabia. - Sapa-AFP

- SAPA