Bush insists North Korea give up nukes

President Bush yesterday threatened “tougher measures” against North Korea if it continues to develop nuclear weapons and condemned Pyongyang for kidnapping Japanese citizens.

“We will not tolerate nuclear weapons in North Korea,” Mr. Bush said at a Texas news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. “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,” he said.

In his sternest warning since Pyongyang began flouting international agreements against nuclear weapons in recent months, Mr. Bush added: “Further escalation of the situation by North Korea will require tougher measures from the intelligence community.”

The president did not specify what those measures might entail. A senior administration official said the “strategic ambiguity” was intentional.

“Even if you assume that the North Koreans are not going to be helpful, there are various different ways in which they can not be helpful, calling out for different sorts of responses,” the official said. “So I guess my bottom line is, it’s too early to say.”

Meanwhile in Paris, the Group of Eight world powers yesterday urged North Korea to dismantle its nuclear-arms program rapidly and pressed Iran to offer more guarantees concerning its own nuclear ambitions

“The North Korean nuclear issue constitutes a threat to international peace and stability,” France said in a statement summing up the conclusions of a meeting of G-8 foreign ministers in Paris.

The G-8 statement also expressed worries about Iran. Ministers said Iran should allay these fears by signing a new protocol with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Iran insists its nuclear programs are purely to generate electricity.

The White House is particularly wary of Pyongyang’s pushing ahead with plans to reprocess spent fuel from nuclear-power plants for use in nuclear weapons. Also, there are fears of a missile launch toward Taiwan or a conventional military provocation against South Korea.

“Unfortunately, there’s a menu that the North Koreans could pick from,” the senior official said. “And it probably includes things that we here are not even thinking of right now.”

Still, the White House refused to say what North Korea would have to do to trigger “tougher measures” by the United States.

“We have consciously made a decision on the part of the U.S. government not to draw red lines,” the official said.

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