Seoul, Oct 22: North Korea has rejected US President George W Bush's proposal to give the country multi-nation security assurances if it agrees to scrap its nuclear weapons program as laughable and "not worth considering". In a radio commentary broadcast late yesterday, North Korea, stuck to its old stance that it would settle for nothing less than a formal non-aggression treaty with the United States.
Earlier this week, Bush rejected North Korea's demand for a formal no-invasion treaty but left the door open for some form of written security pledge backed by the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia. "It is a laughing matter and is not worth considering," reported a North Korean broadcasting station.
"We have demanded that the United States drop its hostile policy toward the (North) and sign a bilateral non-aggression treaty with us. We have not demanded some kind of security guarantee," it added. Bush made his proposal at a summit of 21 Asia-Pacific leaders in Bangkok, Thailand, which was dominated by security issues including North Korea's nuclear threat.
The reclusive communist regime startled the world last year when it admitted running a secret weapons program, and it is believed to have at least two nuclear weapons in its arsenal. Bureau Report