Foreign Correspondence

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Bush Presses North Korea on Weapons
STEVEN LEE MYERS
August 6, 2008

SEOUL — President Bush said on Wednesday that North Korea had not yet done enough to merit removal from an American list of governments that sponsor terrorism, raising the prospect of new delays in the dismantling of North Korea’s nuclear program.

Making his first stop on a visit to Asia focused on the Olympic Games opening in Beijing on Friday, Mr. Bush also chided China for restricting religious freedoms. At the same time, though, he insisted that his attendance was a gesture of respect for the Chinese people and should not be used as an occasion to criticize the country’s authoritarian policies.

Mr. Bush, appearing with President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea, spoke in unusually personal terms about North Korea — a country he once included in an “axis of evil” with Iran and Iraq — and its leader, Kim Jong-il.

He suggested that the country’s commitment to giving up nuclear weapons remained unclear even to two leaders involved in the talks that has led to an agreement to do so.

“I don’t know whether or not they’re going to give up their weapons,” he said, speaking to reporters with Mr. Lee in a garden at the Blue House, the ancient compound here that is now the office of South Korea’s president. “I really don’t know. I don’t think either of us knows.”

For the first time in years, Mr. Bush also discussed at length the phrase “axis of evil,” wording that has been widely criticized as brazen and simplistic.

When asked if North Korea had fundamentally changed since he first linked it to Iraq and Iran in 2002 as an axis of the world’s most dangerous countries, Mr. Bush said that North Korea continued to have a repressive government and that its leader had yet to disclose fully the country’s nuclear weapons work.

But he added that there were signs of progress, including the destruction of the cooling tower at the plutonium reactor at Yongbyon, which was filmed by invited television channels.

“And my hope is that the ‘axis of evil’ list no longer exists,” Mr. Bush said, referring somewhat ambiguously to the current status of North Korea and Iran as international pariahs. “That’s my hope, for the sake of peace. And it’s my hope for, you know, for the sake of our children.”

In June the Bush administration announced it would remove North Korea from a list of countries designated as enemies and sponsors of terrorism, at least symbolically lifting some sanctions after North Korea produced a declaration of its secretive nuclear work.

In a series of reciprocal measures, the North Koreans were then supposed to agree to a system of verifying the dismantlement of all nuclear programs, something that conservative critics of the agreement view with deep suspicion.

The administration was required to give Congress 45 days’ notice of the removal from the designation as a terrorist sponsor. That deadline expires Sunday, and Mr. Bush made it clear that he would not formally remove North Korea until its government agreed to the verification measures, which remain the subject of negotiations, according to administration officials.

“In order to get off the list, the axis-of-evil list, the North Korean leader’s going to have to make some certain decisions,” he said.

Mr. Bush has rarely repeated the use of the phrase after he first introduced it in the State of the Union address more than six years ago, though he has often been asked.

North Korea went on to test a nuclear weapon in 2006, and the Bush administration then joined South Korea, Japan, China and Russia in “six party” talks to persuade North Korea to reverse its decision to become a nuclear power.

Mr. Bush arrived in Seoul on Tuesday night for a visit that has highlighted his close relationship with Mr. Lee, a conservative elected only five months ago. He was greeted by sizeable protests both for and against the United States and his policies more specifically.

Both leaders made note of the protests the night before, which resulted in 167 arrests, according to the National Police Agency. Mr. Lee noted the thousands that rallied in favor of closer relations. “And, of course, behind those people, there were those who were sort of opposed,” he went on, prompting laughter. “However, the number was minimal, sir.”

Having recently resolved disputes over the import of American beef and the formal naming of islands disputed between Korea and Japan, the two men appeared closely aligned on North Korea, trade and other issues.

Mr. Lee twice noted that they had already met three times and, despite protests that have weakened his presidency, he expressed a desire to deepen ties to the United States.

In a joint statement, the two leaders also included a call for improved human rights in North Korea, a significant diplomatic gesture that Mr. Lee’s liberal predecessors had shunned as too confrontational with the North. North Korea reacts angrily to any outside criticism of its human rights record, which it considers interference in internal affairs.

“What’s most important is, number one, that we must have a denuclearization of North Korea,” Mr. Lee said, praising Mr. Bush for dealing with “a tough opponent” in the North Koreans. “So I will be patient, I will be consistent, and I will do my best.”

The two leaders also discussed Afghanistan, an issue that prompted considerable speculation that Mr. Bush would ask South Korea to return troops to the conflict there. Mr. Bush, however, said that he had asked Mr. Lee only for “non-combat help,” presumably training and redevelopment efforts.

“I asked him to consider as much non-combat help as possible to help this young democracy,” he said.

Mr. Bush later paid a visit to the American and South Korean troops at the United States Army Garrison-Yongsan here in Seoul, which he called “freedom’s frontier.” He noted that among the effects of the realignment of American forces in Korea and Asia would be the return of the garrison to Korean command. “It’s a nice piece of real estate, as you know,” he said.

On the eve of his visit to China, Mr. Bush mildly rebuked the government’s suspicion of religious institutions and worshippers, calling it a mistake, but he did not specifically address steps the Chinese authorities have taken to tighten security and crack down on dissent in the weeks leading up to the games.

“You should not fear religious people in your societies,” he said, citing the message he said he has repeatedly delivered to Chinese leaders during his seven and a half years in office. “As a matter of fact, religious people will make your society a better place. You ought to welcome people being able to express their minds. To the extent that people aren’t able to do that, people aren’t able to worship freely is you know I think is a mistake.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/07/world/asia/07prexy.html?pagewanted=1&hp