Democrats criticize policy of Bush on North Korea

WASHINGTON -- Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle said the Bush administration continues to "sit back and watch" as the crisis in North Korea steadily worsens.

The administration is "playing down the threat and apparently playing for time. But time is not on our side," said Daschle, D-S.D., who was joined Wednesday by other leading Democrats in voicing concern over recent trends on the Korean peninsula.

Tensions with North Korea continue to escalate, most recently with North Korean MiG fighters intercepting a U.S. surveillance plane in international waters.

The United States has responded by basing more heavy bombers near that country and White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said President Bush would consult with allies to determine the best way to further protest.

While saying "these are serious actions that North Korea has taken," Fleischer said Bush believes the standoff can be solved through diplomacy.

Sen. Joseph Biden, former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called on the administration to open direct talks with North Korea.

Biden said the administration was swinging back and forth between "name-calling and engagement."

He added that the "resulting paralysis" has made it more likely that North Korea will use its plutonium stocks to develop nuclear weapons.

"We, quite frankly, have no policy now. There is no policy. I would not call it benign neglect, I'd call it malign neglect," Biden said.

Madeleine Albright, who spent two days in North Korea as secretary of state in October 2000, said direct talks with that country are necessary "in order to deliver the kinds of messages that we need to about the unacceptability of their nuclear program."

Secretary of State Colin Powell has not ruled out such talks, saying they could be useful.