DATE=10/21/03

TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP

NAME=BUSH / NORTH KOREA

NUMBER=6-130135

BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT=

INTRO: The American press is reacting generally favorably to President Bush's latest diplomatic move toward resolving the North Korean nuclear arms dilemma. V-O-A's _____________ joins us now with a sampling in today's U-S Opinion Roundup.

TEXT: President Bush is using his Asian trip to make what the U-S press is calling "his most conciliatory step yet" in dealing with North Korea's quest for nuclear arms. Mr. Bush said in Thailand that he will sign an agreement promising not to attack North Korea as long as it is not a formal treaty.

The move is seen as a concession to U-S allies in the region, particularly South Korea and China, and is drawing praise in the domestic editorial columns. Suggesting it shows "a new and welcome degree of flexibility" on the problem, Missouri's Saint Louis Post-Dispatch says:

VOICE: After months of saying that any concession would reward [North Korean leader Kim John Il] Kim for his nuclear blackmail, Mr. Bush suggested that the [U-S] and other nations might provide North Korea with security guarantees in exchange for a promise to dismantle the weapons program. [Such] A security guarantee from five powers is a long way from a binding bilateral treaty ... But it is a significant step for Mr. Bush.

… Alternatives to negotiations are bleak. … For the moment, Mr. Bush's small olive branch is the best hope.

TEXT: Views of The Saint Louis Post-Dispatch. In Milwaukee [Wisconsin], The Journal Sentinel calls the declaration "a prudent shift," and goes on to call it:

VOICE: … a significant departure from his [President Bush's] previous position, which represented the view of hard-liners in the administration who believed the U-S should not negotiate with North Korea at all until it first abandoned its weapons program. To negotiate before … they argued, would capitulate to blackmail … Trouble is, there has never been any sign that North Korea was willing to give in. On the contrary, U-S intelligence agencies have warned that North Korea was trying to build up its nuclear arsenal….

TEXT: In South Carolina, Charleston's Post and Courier calls the move "a sane decision," adding: "The next move is up to Pyongyang." To Long Island, New York now, where Newsday says the President "has made a commendable effort … for a peaceful end to the year-long North Korean nuclear standoff…"

As far as The Sun in Baltimore is concerned, the President's shift:

VOICE: … changes nothing and everything at the same time. It changes nothing because, one way or another, America -- along with the North's four neighbors -- would still be asking its maximum leader, Kim Jong Il, to trade away his only bargaining chip: his nuclear threat.

…It changes everything because it provides a test of Mr. Kim's intentions. The North has been asking for an assurance that America doesn't want to invade it. And so its response could indicate whether Mr. Kim wants to continue trying to blackmail the [U-S] or resolve this high-stakes standoff.

TEXT: Excerpts of an editorial in The [Baltimore] Sun. While in California, The Los Angeles Times suggests the president's announcement:

VOICE: … is an important maneuver in getting Pyongyang to end its nuclear weapons program. Even if Kim Jong Il's regime refuses to accept anything short of a full-fledged treaty, [Mr.] Bush's more conciliatory approach should win needed diplomatic support from China and South Korea. … The U-S is correct to enlist the assistance of North Korea's neighbors: nuclear proliferation is a regional threat, not an issue of concern only to Pyongyang and Washington.

TEXT: Lastly, the New York Times says the president is:

VOICE: … taking a wiser and more sophisticated approach to the crisis [which]… makes an eventual peaceful, diplomatic solution to this extremely dangerous problem somewhat more likely.

TEXT: On that note from the New York Times we conclude this editorial sampling of reaction to the latest U-S move in response to North Korea's nuclear arms program.

NEB/ANG/KL