U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday reiterated that the United States is seeking a diplomatic solution to the nuclear impasse with North Korea, but cautioned that diplomacy will take time. The U.S. president said he was pleased that leaders of China, South Korea, Japan, and Russia, in telephone calls during the past few days, agreed that Pyongyang should not be allowed to possess nuclear weapons. “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 at a joint news conference with visiting Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada. Bush said the nations' message to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il was, “We expect you to adhere to international norms. We expect you to keep hour word.” “Diplomacy takes a while,” Bush cautioned. “We're spending time, diplomatically, making sure [the international] voice is unified,” he said. “Let's send a common message that you won't be rewarded for ignoring the world and that you'll be isolated if you continue to do this, and yet there's a way forward.”
