President Bush on Wednesday said the world should be “nervous” that North Korea appears to be preparing to test-fire a long-range missile and called on Pyongyang to explain itself.
“It would be in the world’s interest to know what they’re testing, what they intend to do on their test,” Bush said at a press conference in Vienna. “It should make people nervous when non transparent regimes that have announced that they’ve got nuclear warheads fire missiles.”
Satellite imagery suggests North Korea is getting ready to test-fire a long-range missile, known as a Taepodong-2, according to the Pentagon.
“This is not the way you conduct business in the world,” Bush said. “This is not the way that peaceful nations conduct their affairs.”
The U.S. has responded by activating a missile-defense system that could intercept and destroy any launch by Pyongyang.
“We have greater technical measures of tracking than in the past and we have options that we have not had in the past, and all these options are on the table,” said Thomas Schieffer, U.S. ambassador to Japan, when asked Wednesday whether the U.S. would shoot down a North Korean missile.
Other U.S. officials rejected Pyongyang’s latest call for direct talks with Washington, preferring to stick with six-party negotiations that also include South Korea, Japan, Russia and China. Bush praised these nations for maintaining pressure on North Korea.
“I was pleased to see that the Chinese spoke out to the North Korean government and suggested they not fire whatever it is on their missile,” he said. “And we’ll see whether or not the North Koreans listen.”
The president’s comments were endorsed by Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, who appeared with Bush at the press conference.
“I couldn’t agree more,” Schuessel said when asked about a possible missile launch. “If this happens, there will be a strong statement and a strong answer from the international community. And Europe will be part of it.”
