    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
    [October 19, 2003]
    [Pages 1357-1359]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following Discussions With Prime Minister Thaksin
    Chinnawat of Thailand and an Exchange With
    Reporters in Bangkok, Thailand
    October 19, 2003

        President Bush. Mr. Prime Minister, thank you very much for your
    grand hospitality. Our entire delegation is honored that you have worked
    so hard to make our stay comfortable and meaningful.
        We just had a very good bilateral with our very close friend. I want
    to thank the Prime Minister for his strong support in the war on terror
    and remind our fellow citizens that because of his Government and his
    good work, Mr. Hambali, one of the masterminds of the Bali bombing, has
    been brought to justice. Mr. Prime Minister, the world is safer because
    of that. And I want to thank you, and I want to thank you for your
    support in Iraq.
        I told the Prime Minister that this country is willing to grant
    major non-NATO ally status to Thailand, which is a very important
    recognition of your friendship and your strong support. As well we
    discussed the fact that we want to move forward the free trade
    agreement. We have the intention to begin negotiations on our free trade
    agreement, which is a very important step in our bilateral relations.
    And I want to thank you for that.
        We also talked about a wide range of issues, including Burma and our
    deep desire for freedom to take place in Burma. We care deeply about
    Aung San Suu Kyi and the status of Aung San
    Suu Kyi, and we would like to see her free. I appreciate the sympathetic
    hearing I got from the Prime Minister. We share the same goal; the
    Government assured us of that, and I thank him for that.
        All in all, it was very constructive visit, perhaps made more
    constructive by the fact that the Prime Minister went to university at
    Sam Houston State in Huntsville, Texas--[laughter]--and therefore, we
    speak the same language. [Laughter]
        Thank you, sir, for your hospitality.
        I thought I'd take a couple of questions.

    North Korea

        Q. Mr. President, would you be willing to offer North Korea some
    kind of non-invasion or non-aggression agreement or pact, maybe
    something short of a treaty, if it would get out of the nuclear weapons
    business?
        President Bush. Well, that's exactly what I'm going to talk to the
    leader of China about here in a couple of hours,
    how to move the process forward. I've said as plainly as I can say that
    we have no intention of invading North Korea. And I've also said as
    plainly as I can say that we expect North Korea to get rid of her
    nuclear weapons ambitions. And the progress we're making on this issue
    is that we've convinced other nations to say the same thing, including
    China and Japan and South Korea and Russia--and Thailand. The Foreign
    Minister recently has had a trip there,
    and briefed us on his discussions with the North Korean Government.
        We would like to see the Korean Peninsula without any nuclear
    weapons. And we will also be willing to discuss with the Chinese and our
    other partners how to move the process forward. That's precisely what
    I'm going to do.
        Holland [Steve Holland, Reuters].

    Usama bin Laden Tape/War on Terror

        Q. Sir, bin Laden is threatening new attacks. How serious a threat
    is this, and will this discourage other countries from stepping forward
    in Iraq?
        President Bush. I think that the bin Laden tape should say to everybody the war on terror goes on,
    that there's still a danger for free nations and that free nations need
    to work together more than ever to share intelligence, cut off money,
    and

    [[Page 1358]]

    bring these potential killers or killers to justice. And we've got to
    find them. And that's one of the discussion points that the Prime
    Minister and I just had. It's something I'll discuss with other leaders
    here at APEC. This is still a dangerous world, and that tape just points
    out exactly what I meant.
        David.

    North Korea

        Q. Mr. President----
        Q. Mr. President----
        Q. Which one?
        President Bush. Neither. [Laughter] Both. [Laughter] The prettier
    one first. [Laughter]
        Q. I'll let you go----
        Q. I won't go there, Mr. President. If I could just follow up on
    your answer on North Korea. You've often said in recent days that you
    had made the decision on Iraq because you could not leave the security
    of the American people in the hands of a madman----
        President Bush. Yes.
        Q. You are now in a position where the CIA says, has long said that
    North Korea has maybe two weapons. There are some arguments they may now
    have four or six, while this slow diplomacy has gone on. Would you say
    that Kim Chong-il now poses as urgent and immediate a threat today as
    Saddam Hussein did a year ago?
        President Bush. I would say that the situation is different between
    North Korea and Iraq, and that it's this, David, that we tried diplomacy
    for 12 long years in Iraq, and many Security Council resolutions for
    Iraq, and the world spoke clearly about Iraq. And Saddam
    Hussein ignored the world. And therefore, we
    put a coalition together to deal with Saddam Hussein.
        We're making progress on the diplomatic front. I'd like to resolve
    all issues in a peaceful way, without using our military, and I think we
    have an opportunity to do so----
        Q. Even if they're still building weapons while you do it?
        President Bush. Well, we'll find out if they are or not. We--the key
    thing we're going to do is now, for the first time, have started to
    speak with not one voice but five voices to convince Mr. Kim Chong-
    il that he ought to change his way.
        And today is--we're furthering the process with my discussions with
    Mr. Hu Jintao on this very subject. China is now
    very much engaged in the process. And as you very well know as a student
    of this issue, that hasn't been the case up until recently. As a matter
    of fact, the bilateral approach to dealing with North Korea didn't work.
    We signed an agreement with North Korea prior to our arrival in
    Washington, DC, and the North Koreans cheated. And so we're trying
    another approach. And I'm hopeful this will work, and we're making good
    progress on this approach.
        Yes.
        Q. Sir, can I just follow on one aspect of that, which is you're
    making very clear again today that you have no intention of invading
    North Korea, and you want them to know that. But in your mind, is there
    a distinction between saying that publicly and putting that down on
    paper in a non-aggression pact? Is that something you are unwilling to
    do?
        President Bush. I'm going to look at all options. But you know,
    first of all, it is very important for us to work with our partners on
    this issue. That's the difference. And the difference is that we've now
    got four other voices besides ourselves who say the same message to Mr.
    Kim Chong-il, and that is, ``Disarm.'' And we
    want to explore these options with our--with China and Japan, South
    Korea, and Russia. And that's what I intend to do.
        Q. [Inaudible]--that's an important idea, you may----
        President Bush. First of all, what's important is that the burden is
    on North Korea, not on America. North Korea must get rid of her nuclear
    ambitions. She must get rid

    [[Page 1359]]

    of her weapons program. That's exactly the point we're trying to make--
    in a verifiable way, I might add. And we are--we think there's an
    opportunity to move the process forward, and we're going to discuss it
    with our partners.
        We will not have a treaty, if that's what you're asking. That's off
    the table. Perhaps there are other ways we can look at--to say exactly
    what I said publicly on paper, with our partners' consent.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:21 a.m. at the Grand Hyatt Erawan
    Bangkok. In his remarks, he referred to Nurjaman Riduan Isamuddin (known
    as Hambali), Al Qaida's chief operational planner in Southeast Asia;
    Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy of Burma;
    President Hu Jintao of China; Minister of Foreign Affairs Surakiat
    Sathianthai of Thailand; Usama bin Laden, leader of the Al Qaida
    terrorist organization; former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq; and
    Chairman Kim Chong-il of North Korea. The President also referred to
    reporters David Gregory, NBC News, and David Sanger, New York Times. A
    tape was not available for verification of the content of these remarks.