BANGKOK, Thailand — President Bush on Sunday took his most conciliatory step yet in his administration's campaign to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program, saying he would consider signing a deal promising not to attack the isolationist country as long as the guarantee was not a formal treaty.
The president's remarks appeared to be a concession to allies, particularly South Korea and China, who have been urging the U.S. to offer a concrete proposal to restart stalemated disarmament talks.
North Korea has insisted that it would not renounce its nuclear weapons capability unless the United States abandoned its "hostile intent," and has demanded a written nonaggression treaty. Bush has said he has no intention of invading North Korea, but has resisted putting security assurances into writing.
"We will not have a treaty.... That's off the table," Bush said after meeting with the Thai prime minister on the eve of the annual summit of Asian-Pacific leaders. "Perhaps there are other ways we can look at to say exactly what I said publicly on paper, with our partners' consent."
U.S. officials said Bush would only agree to a multi-country security pledge, but it is not clear how receptive North Korea would be to such an idea. Pyongyang has insisted it would accept only a bilateral nonaggression treaty with the United States.
With North Korea refusing to come back to the bargaining table, the Bush administration has been under growing pressure from its Asian allies to offer North Korea something more positive than a spoken pledge. South Korean diplomats have tried indirectly to let it be known that President Roh Moo Hyun, whose domestic political position is precarious, needs to show positive movement on the North Korean problem, especially now that he has committed himself to the politically unpopular step of sending South Korean troops to Iraq.
Bush and Roh met over breakfast today. Before the talks, Bush said "good progress" was being made on the North Korea issue. Roh said he appreciated Bush's efforts, adding, "This issue is very critical."
Like the South Koreans, Chinese diplomats have hinted that the U.S. needs to show more flexibility toward North Korea. The Bush administration feels that China is vital to any solution of the North Korea nuclear crisis -- and China has opposed sanctioning North Korea in the U.N. Security Council.
