Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Bush says N. Korea must work to get off terror list

President Bush and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak leave the podium today after a joint press conference outside the Blue House in Seoul, South Korea.  (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
By BEN FELLER Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea – President Bush said today that North Korea has much to do before the U.S. can remove it from the terror blacklist, but expressed hope that its pariah status as a member of the “axis of evil” could someday be a thing of the past.

Pyongyang expects Bush to remove it from the U.S. list of terror-sponsoring countries as soon as next weekend, as promised when the North blew up its nuclear reactor cooling tower in June. But Bush, speaking at a news conference with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, said North Korea must first agree to international terms for verifying its dismantlement efforts.

“I don’t know whether or not they’re going to give up their weapons,” Bush said. “I really don’t know. I don’t think either of us knows.”

Lee called North Korea “a very difficult opponent.”

But, he added: “I will be patient and I will be consistent. I have faith we will be able to move to the verification process, then to the next step.”

The North, which exploded a nuclear device in 2006, is believed by experts to have produced enough weapons-grade plutonium to make as many as 10 nuclear bombs, and the U.S. has accused Pyongyang of running a second weapons program based on uranium. Actual destruction of weapons – the ultimate goal of the six-party talks with North Korea that include the U.S. and South Korea – is months away at least.

Bush once branded North Korea as part of an “axis of evil,” along with prewar Iraq and Iran, and spoke derisively of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il’s treatment of his people and pursuit of nuclear weapons. The president said it is still “to be determined” whether Pyongyang can come off, and listed some of what is left to do.

“The human rights abuses inside the country still exist and persist. The North Korea leader has yet to fully verify the extent to which he has had a highly enriched uranium program. There’s still more steps to be done on the plutonium program,” Bush said. “In order to get off the list, the axis of evil list, the North Korean leader is going to have to make certain decisions.”

Still, he said he hoped to see all that come to pass.

“My hope is that the axis of evil list no longer exists. That’s my hope for the sake of peace. That’s my hope for the sake of our children,” Bush said.

Bush opened a three-nation Asian trip that will take him to Thailand later today, and then on to China at the end of the week for the Olympic Games in Beijing.