Bush Sends Letter On Nukes To North Korea

Message Hand-Delivered By U.S. Nuclear Envoy; Copies Sent To 4 Other Countries, Too

(AP)  President Bush's personal letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, raising the possibility of normalized relations if he fully discloses his nuclear programs by year's end, is a turnabout for a president who has labeled the communist regime part of an "axis of evil."

"I want to emphasize that the declaration must be complete and accurate if we are to continue our progress," Mr. Bush wrote, according to an excerpt of the Dec. 1 letter obtained by The Associated Press.

The Bush administration sought to play down the diplomatic significance of the letter — the president's first to the reclusive North Korean leader. Yet, it reflected how U.S. policy toward the nation has shifted from the days when Mr. Bush shunned the dictator.

The letter might sate Kim's craving to be recognized by the U.S. as a player on the world stage. However, White House press secretary Dana Perino said Mr. Bush meant it as a "reminder" to North Korea that it has pledged to provide — by the end of the month — a complete and accurate disclosure of its nuclear programs.

A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the contents of the letter, said Mr. Bush indicated to Kim that if North Korea does what it has agreed to do, and the Korean peninsula is denuclearized, then that will ultimately lead to normalization.

The United States is looking for a complete declaration of North Korea's nuclear facilities, materials and programs and also insists that it address any role that the North Koreans have played in spreading nuclear technology or know-how to others.

Mr. Bush sent similar letters on Dec. 1 to the leaders of Russia, China, Japan and South Korea — the other nations involved in the six-party nuclear talks — to reiterate his desire to resolve the nuclear standoff. He also spoke about the issue on the phone Thursday with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Under the watchful eye of U.S. experts, North Korea started disabling its plutonium-producing reactor at Yongbyon, which was shut down in July, and two other facilities last month.

Christopher Hill, the U.S. nuclear envoy who delivered Mr. Bush's letter to North Korea's foreign minister during a visit to Pyongyang earlier this week, says efforts to disarm the reactor by year's end are going as scheduled, but differences remain over the nuclear programs that the regime would declare.

Neither the White House nor the State Department would release the letters or disclose their content.

A U.S. official told the AP that the letter to North Korea refers to a need to resolve three main sticking points: the exact amount of weapons-grade nuclear material the North produced, the number of warheads it built and whether and how North Korea may have passed nuclear material or knowledge to others.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe details of the delicate diplomacy, said the letter underscored Bush's desire to resolve the nuclear dispute, and made plain that North Korea cannot skirt requirements to fully explain the extent, use and possible spread of nuclear material and technology.

Derek Mitchell, an Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the letter is evidence that U.S. policy toward North Korea has changed "at least 150 degrees" from early in the Bush administration.

"Kim Jong Il is someone whom Bush famously loathed. He's quoted as saying he loathes Kim Jong Il and called him a pygmy, and the attitude was that you don't talk to evil, you end it," Mitchell said. "That Bush would, at this point, directly contact — send a personal letter to Kim Jong Il — is a remarkable turnaround from that."

Michael O'Hanlon, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, warned against placing too much significance on the direct correspondence.

"I think a presidential letter is a fairly restrained version of direct communication and appropriate to the stage of the negotiations," he said. "I think it's better for this sort of letter to be written than for the president to jump on a plane to Pyongyang."

The Bush letter is a diplomatic exclamation point because North Korea has been hearing the same message from Hill. The correspondence also serves a domestic political purpose — signaling to conservative critics of the North Korea deal that the United States will not roll back its requirements or accept less than a full declaration of the North's nuclear program.

The question of proliferation has taken on greater significance, and become a political hurdle for the Bush administration, since Israel's air strike on a suspected Syrian nuclear site Sept. 6. Intelligence reports suggested Syria was cooperating in some fashion with North Korea in building the site.

The news that North Korea may have been working with others as recently as this year, after it had agreed to give up its weapons, reinvigorated U.S. domestic opposition to what some conservatives in Congress see as an overly generous deal with an unreliable country.

Under the deal, North Korea was promised 1 million tons of fuel oil or the equivalent, plus political concessions such as its removal from a U.S. list of terrorism-supporting nations, in return for disabling its nuclear program and making other moves.

U.S. officials have acknowledged the Dec. 31 deadline is likely to slip. Better to have the complete document in hand a couple of weeks late than to have a half-baked version by the Dec. 31 deadline.

"It is going to take a monumental effort to get all of this done by the end of the year," said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, speaking to reporters as she flew to Brussels on Thursday for NATO meetings. "And I am not too concerned about whether it's December 31st or not. They seem to be on track. Everybody believes the cooperation is very good."

South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon sounded a gloomier note, saying, "There has not been progress on the declaration yet."

A Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman expressed disappointment that North Korea was likely to miss the year-end deadline, but that it is unlikely to affect the overall agreement.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the six countries were consulting on whether to hold another round of meetings before the end of the year.

[briannorwood]

Didn''t know George knew how to write!

[antoniof123]

LOL...LOL again. LIBS are so funny. North Korea is giving up nukes and the LIBS just continue to whine, pi$$ and moan. God what a bunch of wooses.

Posted by mbcsmith at 01:25 PM : Dec 06, 2007

Huh I have a feeling it has more to do with this happening in China''s back yard then with anything the chimp or his minions did. Trust me no one is too worried about the chimp esp. not China so save your rhetoric for the Rush hour.

[sevenveils]

I hope he was allowed to use a sharp crayon for that letter. Did someone check his spelling before he mailed it?

[thgdriver]

nirak2

Yeah, right, the GOP steals all the elections!! LMFAO!!

How many times have I had to hear that whinny tune sung over and over the last 7 years. LOL

Kerry lost, and now he is lost, PERIOD!! His own party don''t even want him around.

[omega39-2009]

Well, he was smart enough to be president and that leaves out Kerry, Gore, Dukakis, Mondale, the list is endless. By the way, how much did the Demonrats pay David Copperfield to make John Kerry disappear? He is harder to find the Hoffa nowadays. LMFAO!!

Posted by thgdriver

Hardly, he was in the news a couple of weeks ago accepting the challenge from the loser that financed the swiftboat veterans. Speaking of vanished, where is T Boone these days?

[thgdriver]

The letter was an invitation to a hunting trip with George Chaney. Ahmadinejad got the same invitation.

[nirak2-2009]

thgdriver
you are truly funny! ROFL
The only reason Bush got into power is because the GOP knows how to cheat better and we all know of the SUPREMES. rofl
Bush hasn''t done a thing in his life where he didn''t get some help. Either from his old man, the GOP or the saudis who baled him out time and time again.

[realpatriot1]

mbcsmith,

To quote mt frined mudrose, suspension does not mean cessation. We have words from the North Koreans but we don''t have a verification process. Clinton was able to get them to agree to install monitoring cameras. When Bush started his axis of evil dog n pony show they came out. They aren''t back in yet and the reason for this letter appears to be that Kim is reneging.

We only have an educated guess regarding Iran, not hard evidence. Any speculation as to why they halted their efforts when they did is more dubious than the intelligence itself. Maybe they ran into a technical snag. Maybe we think they stopped but we really don''t know since that''s when the White House outed the CIA network trying to get the answers.

I''ll give him some credit for Libya though because that''s verifiable. It appears that was mostly because his more moderate son convinced him it was bad for the nation''s economy.

[mbcsmith]

with so much credibility left after iraq''''s wmds, and iran''''s nuculur weapons, and americans are not being spied upon, george w bush won''''t be able to get a world consensus on korea or anywhere else.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by bigsk8fan at 01:20 PM : Dec 06, 2007


LOL...LOL again. LIBS are so funny. North Korea is giving up nukes and the LIBS just continue to whine, pi$$ and moan. God what a bunch of wooses.

[bigsk8fan]

bush sends a personal letter to kim jong il. wow, did cheney write it for him?

with so much credibility left after iraq''s wmds, and iran''s nuculur weapons, and americans are not being spied upon, george w bush won''t be able to get a world consensus on korea or anywhere else.

[thgdriver]

Isn''''t it interesting that the same hard core Bush supporters that will argue every Bush policy decision to the bitter end, have slunk quietly away when the discussion turned to Bush''''s intelligence and educational achievements?

Posted by omega39

Well, he was smart enough to be president and that leaves out Kerry, Gore, Dukakis, Mondale, the list is endless. By the way, how much did the Demonrats pay David Copperfield to make John Kerry disappear? He is harder to find the Hoffa nowadays. LMFAO!!

[mbcsmith]

Let''''s see now, Libya gave up it''''s nuke program after we crushed Saddam, apparently Iran had the same thoughts and North Korea has come around as a result of the six party talks. 3 rogue nations giving up their nukes under the Bush administration. Thank you Mr President for making the world a safer place!

[Con Mohrat]

Did it start with "Dear Axis of Evil, ..."

[ronaldstark]

I am absolutely no supporter of George W. Bush and his regime...I voted Kerry in 2004. I must say to all of you that he is a very intelligent man. He just has a tough time articulating and finding the right words to explain what he means. He is much smarter than the average american. With that said...lets go John McCain!!!

[donbl1]

I read that Bush''s academic achievements (grades) at Yale were higher than Kerry''s. Not sure what that means but I think it means that 2004 was a wash for America on academic achievement.

[steeepe]

Maybe it was just a Christmas card....

[omega39-2009]

Isn''t it interesting that the same hard core Bush supporters that will argue every Bush policy decision to the bitter end, have slunk quietly away when the discussion turned to Bush''s intelligence and educational achievements?

[jetranger7]

A White House Insider told me, that Laura sent the letter, because Her Hubby could begin the letter properly,,, he coudn''t spell the word "I", instead he spelled it "EYE", as in I george W Bush,, well he screwed it all up and Laura took over, but, they gave the letter to Cheney, who drooped on the way to the post office,,so Cheney spent US Tax dollars around 500-million to send the letter by Air, on an Special Jet,, thats what they say anyway,, wouldn''t surprise me, its not their money, so who cares !! I know this much, I wish both of em would stay out of my City and Quit coming here, nobody wants them anyway or to hear from them, BUSH/CHENEY - STAY HOME !!!!!

[nirak2-2009]

Right, Bush sends a personal letter. A letter that was written by someone else.
Not sure his spelling would be good enough.

[samrensho]

Bushie sends a letter??? NOT!! That cretin can''t even write.