President Bush said Thursday the United States must “plan for the worst” from North Korea, which launched seven missiles this week, but said further isolation of the regime could reduce its danger to the world.
“We’ve got to plan for the worst and hope for the best,” Bush said in an East Room press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Bush, who once said “I loathe Kim Jong-il,” railed against the communist dictator for test-firing a long-range, Taepodong 2 missile on the Fourth of July in defiance of the international community.
“He’s going to pose less of a threat the more isolated he becomes,” Bush said.
Although the missile tumbled harmlessly into the Sea of Japan after less than a minute of flight, North Korea launched half a dozen lesser missiles and might fire even more.
Although a successful Taepodong 2 missile could reach North America, Harper said Canada would not participatein a U.S.-led effort to build a global missile defense shield against rogue regimes.
“The government of Canada is not prepared to open a missile defense issue at this time,” he said. “But I will say that I think it should be obvious, when we look at this kind of threat, why the United States and others would want to have a modern and flexible defense system against this kind of threat.”
Bush said he personally urged the leaders of China, Russia, Japan and South Korea to maintain a united front against North Korea, although there were already signs that Moscow and Beijing do not favor
strong sanctions.
Although Bush reiterated his call for a diplomatic solution, years of diplomatic overtures have fallen on deaf ears in Pyongyang. And while the administration refuses to rule out military action, any U.S. strike on North Korea might endanger U.S. allies like South Korea and Japan.
With no easy options at his disposal, Bush seemed resigned to the grim reality of the mounting crisis.
“It’s just really important for the American president to see the world the way it is, not the way we had hoped it would be, and to deal with threats and to do so in a way that will achieve results,” he said. “And it takes a while. I mean, these threats didn’t arise overnight.”
The president also slammed Kim for spending lavishly on arms while his country has suffered through famine.
“There’s a lot of concentration camps … We do know that people are starving,” he said. “It breaks my heart to know that young children are literally starving to death.”
