Bush proposes possible end to nuclear standoff

BANGKOK, Thailand -- President Bush said Sunday 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.\nBush 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, that would fall short of an actual treaty.\nNuclear 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.\nBush 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 Sunday when Bush met with Chinese President Hu Jintao, who pledged to encourage North Korea to return to multiparty nuclear talks soon.\nWith 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 between the United States, China, Russia, Japan and the two Koreas in Beijing ended without agreement on a next round.\nThe administration fervently wants to avoid Bush having a nuclear crisis on his hands as he heads into a re-election battle next year.\nRussian President Vladimir Putin said more nuclear talks could yield "good, positive results" if North Korea's security worries were addressed. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi backed the push for new negotiations, while South Korea had no comment on the day's developments.\n"I've said as plainly as I can say that we have no intention of invading North Korea," Bush said after a meeting with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. "And I've also said as plainly as I can that we expect North Korea to get rid of her nuclear weapons ambitions."\nBut, he said, short of a treaty, "perhaps there are other ways to say exactly what I said publicly" and to put it on paper "with our partners' consent."\nAt a photo session with Hu, the Chinese president said only that he would "strive for a peaceful resolution."\nNorth Korea said the meeting in Bangkok was not the place to discuss the nuclear standoff because it "is an issue to be resolved between us and the United States."\nBut administration leaders, following Bush's lead, made themselves available on Sunday talk shows to discuss the new proposed approach, described by one official as an "agreement with a small 'a.'"\n"We believe that we could provide the kind of assurances that the North Koreans say they are looking for, without getting it into the formal process of a treaty ... that will require Senate ratification," Secretary of State Colin Powell said on CBS' "Face the Nation."\nHe made clear the United States wants to first gain agreement from key regional allies before it would go to Pyongyang. "I would not want to prejudge right now what other parties might be willing to do," Powell said on "Fox News Sunday."\nMeanwhile, Bush made little apparent progress in his drive to persuade China to stop a policy that keeps its currency undervalued compared to the U.S. dollar, making Chinese goods less expensive than American products.\nNeither Bush nor Hu directly mentioned the dispute before reporters. However, Hu said, "We both stated our readiness to resolve whatever questions that might emerge in our economic exchange through dialogue."\nPrivately, Hu told Bush he agreed that market forces should determine exchange rates, but that to do so too quickly would be a shock to China's economy, said a senior Bush official. The official said Hu agreed to set up an "experts group" to study ways China could move more quickly.\nBut before meeting with Bush, Hu defended the currency policy, telling international business executives that China's rapid ascendance as a major trading nation was benefiting the world.\nWith financial commitments from Japan and South Korea in hand, Bush said he would use the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum here to encourage more nations to be contribute to Iraq's reconstruction. The U.S.-led attack against Iraq was opposed by many nations here, including Russia and Muslim countries.\nBush, in a speech to troops at the Royal Thai Army headquarters, praised Thailand for sending troops to help with Afghanistan's reconstruction.\n"We must stay on the offensive until the terrorist threat is fully and finally defeated," the president said.\nBush announced the United States and Thailand would begin negotiations on a free-trade agreement and promised to increase U.S.-Thai military cooperation.\nProtests in Bangkok were light as world leaders gathered, partly because unprecedented security and government pressure kept demonstrators far away.