Bush includes North in global 'axis of evil'

WASHINGTON - U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday pledged that his administration would prevent countries sponsoring terrorism, including North Korea, from threatening America and its allies with weapons of mass destruction.

In his State of the Union address, Mr. Bush explained the U.S. strategy in the war against terror. Terrorist organizations including Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, and sponsoring regimes such as North Korea, Iran and Iraq were singled out by name.

"North Korea is a regime arming with missiles and weapons of mass destruction, while starving its citizens," the president said. He warned that "The United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons."

They and their "terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil," Mr. Bush said, urging all nations to cooperate in eliminating the terrorists and regimes that seek to threaten the world with chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.

Mr. Bush's stern words made it unlikely that his visit to Seoul Feb. 19 would revitalize the stalled relations between North Korea and the United States, diplomatic analysts said, as it suggested that his administration's hard-line policy was unchanged.

The South Korean government said, however, that Mr. Bush's warning to Pyeongyang did not amount to a hardening of his position, since Washington has threatened ever since the Sept. 11 attacks to punish state sponsors of terror. "It is improbable that Mr. Bush's address will upset our plan to encourage Washington to treat Pyeongyang in an amicable manner," Oh Song, a Foreign Ministry official, said Wednesday.

Without referring to Mr. Bush's speech, North Korea broadcast an editorial Wednesday denying that it was a threat and calling for withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Korea. The official Rodong Sinmun argued that a new guarantee system should replace the current armed truce.

by Kim Jin