Powell, appearing a few hours after Bush at a joint press conference with Chile's foreign minister, Ignacio Walker, expressed frustration with Iran over what he depicted as its clandestine efforts to develop a nuclear weapon.
"Iran has been working on long-range missiles," Powell said. "They have been working on intercontinental range missiles, which they claim are for perhaps space-launch purposes. And we have reason to believe that when you see what they have been doing, the high aspects of their nuclear programs, when you see what they have been doing over the years with missiles and potential delivery systems, it is a cause of concern."
Speaking about North Korea after his meeting with Koizumi, Bush said it was "very important for the leader of North Korea to understand that the six-party talks will be the framework in which we continue to discuss the mutual goal we all have, which is to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons."
A Japanese government official said after the meeting that Koizumi had told Bush he wanted "to continue cooperation toward Iraq's reconstruction," but stopped short of promising to extend the deployment of Japanese troops beyond their current commitment of Dec. 14.
Bush met with Hu, China's president, for the first time since Hu assumed his full powers. "I invited President Hu to come and visit the United States as soon as he can, and he invited me to China," Bush said.
During Bush's meeting with the chief executives, he won the heartiest applause when he recognized "a man who has served our country so well, a great United States secretary of state, Colin Powell."
"Right after my speech, he's headed to the Middle East. That's a heck of a retirement, Mr. Secretary," Bush said, drawing laughter. "I look forward to your report when you get back."
Bush, reprising an issue he had discussed with Koizumi, acknowledged to the leaders his "concern about whether or not our government is dedicated to dealing with our deficits."
He said he looked forward to outlining to Congress in his State of the Union address in January the steps he will take in his new budget to deal with the deficit.
