N. Korea Talks May Hinge on Bush

Lawmaker Advises President to Choose His Words Carefully

Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) -- with Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Hiroyuki Hosoda -- was part of a delegation that recently visited Pyongyang. (Pool Photo Sugita Eriko)

A bipartisan group of lawmakers that recently traveled to North Korea has written President Bush to urge him not to make provocative statements about the reclusive nation in next week's State of the Union address, on the grounds that it will hurt the prospects for resumed talks on North Korea's nuclear programs.

Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), who led the six-member delegation, said senior North Korean leaders had told him they were ready to return to the talks but would be listening closely to statements from top administration officials.

North Korea has accused the Bush administration of having a "hostile policy," dating from Bush's first State of the Union address in 2002. In that speech, he labeled North Korea as part of an "axis of evil" that included Iran and Saddam Hussein's government in Iraq.

During her confirmation hearings last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declared that North Korea was one of six "outposts of tyranny," along with Belarus, Burma, Cuba, Iran and Zimbabwe.

"The key thing is not to make inflammatory statements," Weldon said. "We don't need to punch our chest and say how great we are and talk about the negative aspects of other societies."

Weldon said he did not know how North Korea would react to Rice's statement, but he added: "I don't think harsh rhetoric helps. It only inflames regimes that are already paranoid about what your ultimate intentions are."

North Korea issued a relatively positive statement after congressional delegation's visit to Pyongyang, including an interest in being a "friend" of the United States.

But after Rice's confirmation hearings, the official North Korean news agency released a statement declaring that the United States is "a wrecker of democracy as it ruthlessly infringes upon the sovereignty of other countries and human rights of their peoples for the mere reason that they are different from it in ideology, system and religious belief."

Weldon said the North Koreans had made it clear the key speech will be the State of the Union. "That's the one they will be watching most clearly," he said, adding that he hopes the reference to North Korea in the speech will sidestep the problems in the country and focus instead on "the need for dialogue to resolve the problems."

During the trip, Weldon said he was told by North Korea's second-ranked leader that Pyongyang had "finished the job" of becoming a nuclear power but did not want to possess such weapons forever. Another official told Weldon the country was committed to a "final goal" of ending its nuclear program and would provide "full transparency" in dismantling programs.

Weldon said the statements represented an opportunity for diplomatic progress. But he said the North Koreans also denied having a uranium enrichment program -- as charged by the Bush administration -- and clearly are interested in a large package of incentives, including energy assistance, to give up their programs.

The Bush administration has said North Korea must commit to irreversibly giving up its programs -- and having its claims verified -- before the United States would join other nations in providing incentives.