BANGKOK, Thailand - President Bush said yesterday for the first time that the United States, China and other nations may try to defuse a crisis with North Korea by offering Pyongyang written security assurances in exchange for a commitment to scrap its nuclear weapons program.
Bush rejected North Korea's demand for a formal no-invasion treaty, saying, That's off the table. But he left the door open for a security pledge, agreed to by several countries, which would fall short of an actual treaty.
Nuclear tensions hung over today's opening of a 21-nation summit of Asian-Pacific leaders, along with disputes over trade and the U.S. occupation of postwar Iraq. On the economic front, China refused to give ground in a currency argument with Washington.
Bush was meeting over breakfast today with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun to explore how to end the North Korea impasse. It was at the top of the agenda yesterday when Bush met with Chinese President Hu Jintao, who pledged to encourage North Korea to return to multiparty nuclear talks soon.
With at least two nuclear weapons in its arsenal, North Korea startled the world last year when it admitted running a secret weapons program. In August, talks among the United States, China, Russia, Japan and the two Koreas in Beijing ended without agreement on a next round.
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