N. Korea threatens more test launches

~ President Bush was deep in telephone diplomacy, trying to build a unified front.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush pushed for stern international action against North Korea on Thursday but ran into resistance from China and Russia. The North Koreans threatened to fire off more test rockets.

Bush, engaged in diplomacy from Washington to Moscow to Asia, said the United States and its allies needed to speak with one voice in pressing Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons and return to multinational negotiations.

"I think we've got to plan for the worst and hope for the best," Bush said. "And planning for the worst means to make sure that we continue to work with friends and allies, as well as those who've agreed to be a part of the six-party talks, to continue to send a unified message."

Bush expressed support for a draft U.N. Security Council resolution, backed by Japan, to sanction North Korea for its seven missile tests, which included a long-range Taepodong-2 believed capable of reaching U.S. soil.

China, North Korea's closest ally, and Russia, which has been trying to re-establish Soviet-era ties with Pyongyang, showed little interest in sanctions, saying diplomacy was the only way to resolve the dispute.

It remained unclear how serious the divisions were at the United Nations -- and whether China and Russia would use their veto power as permanent members of the Security Council to kill a resolution, or simply abstain.

Bush, trying to build consensus among his partners in the stalled six-party talks with North Korea, was deep in telephone diplomacy. He spoke Thursday with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Australian Prime Minister John Howard. On Wednesday, he had called the leaders of South Korea and Japan.

"My message was that we want to solve this problem diplomatically, and the best way to solve this problem diplomatically is for all of us to be working in concert," Bush said.

U.S. officials say they don't know why North Korea decided to launch the missiles, and can't read the mind of its reclusive leader, Kim Jong Il. But Bush said the United States cannot afford to misjudge the situation.

"There's not a lot of light shining in there," Bush said of North Korea. "And so we take his statements very seriously. He's kind of declared himself to be a nuclear power."

North Korea test-fired seven missiles this week in defiance of warnings from the United States, Japan and China. The firings included the long-range Taepodong-2, which failed 42 seconds after liftoff, and splashed into the Sea of Japan with rest of the short- to medium-range missiles.

During an interview taped for broadcast Thursday night on CNN's "Larry King Live," Bush was asked if he had been prepared to shoot down the long-range missile. The president replied, "If it headed to the United States we've got a missile defense system that will defend our country."

North Korea threatened to test-fire more missiles, and it warned of "stronger physical actions in other forms" if nations opposing the tests pressured Pyongyang too hard.

The foreign ministry said that it was North Korea's sovereign right to test missiles, and that the launches were part of regular military drills.

Asked for an assessment of Kim Jong Il, who has been described in the West in unflattering terms, Bush chose instead to describe North Korea as a closed society.

"We do know there's a lot of concentration camps," he said. "We do know that people are starving. As a matter of fact, our nation has tried to help feed the hungry. But what we don't know is his (Kim's) intentions."

Pentagon officials said Thursday that the brief flight of the Taepodong-2 missile made it difficult to collect useful technical data, such as its intended target, its payload and even whether it was a two-stage or three-stage missile. At this point, U.S. officials are leaning toward the theory that it was configured as a space launch to deliver a satellite into orbit, rather than as a flight test of a ballistic missile.

On the diplomatic front, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plans to visit South Korea later this month for talks on the missile tests.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei is heading to Pyongyang with a high-level delegation to celebrate the 45th anniversary of a friendship treaty between China and North Korea. Before he goes, Wu will sit down on Friday with chief U.S. nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill who also is making stops in the region.

At the United Nations, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton tried to play down any friction between the nations addressing the Korean situation.

"There may be disagreement at the moment over the vehicle that we use here in the council, but no one speaks in favor of North Korea. No one takes the North Korean line," Bolton said.

Japan's draft resolution would prohibit any nation from transferring funds, material and technology that could be used in North Korea's missile or weapons of mass destruction programs.

China, which is an economic lifeline to North Korea by providing it trade, aid and oil, doesn't want to push its neighbor too hard. Beijing worries that if the communist government fails, North Korean refugees would stream into China or that the North would be unified with South Korea, which is strongly allied with the United States.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned against threatening North Korea with sanctions that would only bring a hostile response. Russia wants the U.N. Security Council to pass a nonbinding statement with the goal of getting North Korea back into six-party talks.

South Korea condemned the missile tests and called for patient dialogue with North Korea, rather than sanctions.

White House press secretary Tony Snow said not to expect any quick resolution of the nuclear standoff with North Korea.

"This is not like a sitcom, it doesn't wrap up in 30 minutes and come to a neat, happy conclusion," Snow said.