U.S. President George W. Bush said Thursday he prefers diplomacy in dealing with North Korea, but he retains other options and rejects any bilateral talks with its regime.
In an interview with Larry King on CNN, he said the U.S. was prepared for North Korea's missile launch and was prepared to defend the nation should the missiles head toward the U.S.
"We want to solve all problems diplomatically. That's our first option," Bush said.
"But of course the president has got other options."
North Korea fired six ballistic missiles Tuesday (US time), including its long-range Taepodong 2, as the U.S. was celebrating its July 4 Independence Day. It fired a seventh missile at dawn Wednesday. Bush was about to begin a private dinner with friends to celebrate his 60th birthday two days early when Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld called him with the news of North Korea's missile launches.
"But we responded very quickly. We had a plan in place if he (North Korean leader Kim Jong-il) were to fire these things," said Bush.
The U.S. was also ready to protect itself, he said, "If it headed to the U.S., we got a missile defense system that will defend our country."
Asked if he was willing to sit down with the North Korean leader, the president said that is probably what Kim wants.
"I think he would love to have the U.S. sit down at the table alone with (him)," he said.
"The problem is we tried that and it didn't work."
In the early 1990s during an earlier North Korean nuclear standoff, the U.S. engaged in one-on-one talks with North Korea which led to the Geneva Agreed Framework of 1994. The agreement fell apart after revelations that Pyongyang violated it by hiding a secret nuclear program.
"We tried incentives before," said Bush, but North Korea "took it and didn't honor the commitment."
"I think the best way to solve this problem diplomatically is for there to be other nations... so that when he looks out, he hears China, the United States, Russia, Japan and South Korea speaking in one voice," the president said.
First Lady Laura Bush, sitting next to the president throughout the interview, said North Korea's missile launch had temporarily disrupted their July 4th celebrations.
"By the time the (birthday) party started, the rockets had pretty much failed," she said.
All of the ballistic missiles had fallen in the East Sea, with the Taepodong 2 failing to spend a minute in the air, according to Washington sources.
"What I spent the day doing actually was watching our shuttle take off from Florida," she said, talking about the U.S. space shuttle Discovery that lifted off just minutes apart from the launch of the North Korean missiles.
WASHINGTON, July 6 (Yonhap News)
Diplomacy preferred, but U.S. has other options: Pres. Bush |
