LEAD: Bush says 6-way talks 'best' to deal with N. Korea, but eyes UNSC

Japan Policy & Politics, May 2, 2005

WASHINGTON, April 28 Kyodo

(EDS: MORE DETAILS)

U.S. President George W. Bush reaffirmed his commitment Thursday to solving the issue of North Korea's nuclear ambitions diplomatically through six-party talks, calling the talks ''the best way'' to deal with North Korean ''tyrant'' Kim Jong Il.

But Bush said in a primetime press conference that the United States will also consider ''consequences'' together with the other parties to the talks, including referring the North to the U.N. Security Council if they agree to do so, should Kim continue to refuse to return to the table.

''All options, of course, are on the table,'' Bush said. ''But the best way to solve this problem diplomatically is to work with four other nations who have all agreed in achieving the same goal and that is a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.''

His comments came days after North Korea confirmed that it has shut down a nuclear reactor -- a possible move to remove spent fuel rods to reprocess and extract plutonium for more nuclear weapons.

In February, Pyongyang declared it possesses nuclear arms and is pulling out indefinitely from the six-party talks due to what it calls ''hostile'' U.S. policy. The talks -- involving China, Japan, South and North Korea, Russia and the United States -- have been stalled since the third round last June.

''The more Kim Jong Il threatens and brags, the more isolated he becomes,'' Bush said. Kim is a ''dangerous person'' who ''starves his people...(and has) got huge concentration camps.''

''There is concern about his capacity to deliver a nuclear weapon,'' he said. ''We don't know if he can or not, but I think it's better when you're dealing with a tyrant like Kim Jong Il to assume he can.''

''That's why I've decided that the best way to deal with this diplomatically is to bring more leverage to the situation by including other countries,'' Bush said. ''And we'll continue to do so.''

Bush said it is ''particularly important to have China involved'' as Beijing ''has got a lot of influence in North Korea.''

Referring to recent comments by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice saying the North's continued refusal to return to the talks will lead the United States to take North Korea to the U.N. Security Council, Bush stressed the need to work with other parties to decide on whether to do so.

''Obviously, that's going to require...the parties agreeing,'' Bush said. ''After all, some of the parties in the process have got the capacity to veto a U.N. Security Council resolution.''

Referring such a case to the Security Council normally means discussing sanctions.

Asked how long the United States can wait for North Korea, Bush again underlined his diplomatic approach, saying, ''How far we let it go on is dependent upon consensus amongst ourselves.''

''What we want to do is to work with our allies on this issue and develop a consensus, a common approach to the consequences of Kim Jong Il,'' he said.

But Bush said the U.S. armed forces are capable of dealing with North Korea even if a large number of troops remain deployed in Iraq.

''We've got good capacity in Korea,'' Bush said, noting he has also instructed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to set up a missile defense system.

''We're in the process of getting that missile defense system up and running,'' Bush said.