October 23, 2003	Thursday	Sha’aban 26, 1424

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE, Oct 22: US President George W. Bush said on Wednesday the United States and its partners were all willing to sign a document declaring “we won’t attack you” so long as North Korea agrees to abandon its nuclear ambitions.

North Korea has dismissed the US offer of multilateral security guarantees as laughable.

“I guess they’re trying to stand up to the five nations that are now uniting in convincing North Korea to disarm and my only reaction is we’ll continue to send a very clear message to the North Koreans,” Bush said in Bali, Indonesia before flying to Australia.

Speaking with reporters later aboard Air Force One, Bush said the United States and its partners in the negotiations were “all willing to sign some sort of document — not a treaty — that says, ‘We won’t attack you.’ But he needs to abandon his nuclear programme in a verifiable way.”

In a commentary published late on Tuesday, the communist North’s official KCNA news agency said Pyongyang wanted a bilateral treaty with the United States — a reference to its desire for a non-aggression pact Washington has ruled out.

During a Bangkok summit of Asia-Pacific leaders that ended on Tuesday, Bush significantly shifted policy by saying he was sharing ideas on how to give North Korea security guarantees short of a non-aggression treaty. All 20 other summit leaders backed this stance.

North Korea was not present because it is not a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. But it lost little time in shooting down the idea.

“We have asked for the United States to stop its hostile policy and a bilateral treaty between North Korea and the United States, and not for some sort of security guarantee,” said the KCNA.

“It’s laughable and doesn’t deserve even any consideration that the US gives a security guarantee.”

Asked about reports of North Korean missile test during APEC, Bush said that was not helpful, adding: “...he (Kim Jong-il) wanted to have dialogue. We’re having dialogue, and he wanted a security agreement and we’re willing to advance a security agreement”.—Reuters