Bush Rules Out North Korea Nuclear Incentives

U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday dismissed the possibility of bilateral negotiations or of offering North Korea new incentives to end its atomic weapons program, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, July 6).

“The problem is we tried that and it didn’t work,” Bush said.

“There have been incentive packages laid out for the North Koreans, which they took and then didn’t honor the commitment they made,” he said.

Bush rejected direct talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, saying, “I think he’d love to have the United States sit down at the table alone.”

“We want to solve all problems diplomatically. That’s our first option.  But, of course, the president has got other options,” he added (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, July 7).

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the top U.S. envoy to stalled multilateral talks on Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions, arrived in Beijing today for meetings with Chinese officials, the Financial Times reported (Financial Times, July 7).

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