US pushes for joint action

President George W. Bush pushed yesterday to get a united international response to North Korea after the reclusive state launched a barrage of missiles in defiance of repeated warnings.

After speaking to the leaders of China, Russia, Japan and South Korea, Mr Bush said allies needed to speak with one voice over North Korea, which acknowledged for the first time yesterday it had test-fired missiles a day before.

But Mr Bush gave no sign that differences with Russia and China over a UN Security Council resolution demanding nations halt funds and technology for Pyongyang's missile program had been resolved.

"My message was that we want to solve this problem diplomatically, and the best way to solve the problem diplomatically is for all of us to be working in concert and to send one message, and that is - to Kim Jong Il - that, 'We expect you to adhere to international norms, and we expect you to keep your word,' Mr Bush said. "It is in our interests that we send a clear message to the leaders of North Korea," he added at a White House news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

While China and Russia oppose sanctions on North Korea for the volley of missiles it fired, the United States and Japan have closed ranks in the face of a council split on the issue.

Mr Bush said he had spoken to Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mr Bush also spoke by telephone on Wednesday with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun.

Mr Putin, in a televised webcast, said concern about North Korean missiles launched on Wednesday should not trigger an emotional reaction "that would drown out common sense."

China, grappling with pressure from Washington over the tests, said its top negotiator on the North Korean nuclear crisis would visit Pyongyang next week.