lmao...
White House Labels North Korea Missile Launch 'bizarre'
ap.tbo.com
WASHINGTON (AP) - North Korea's test-firing of a missile was "bizarre," President Bush's spokesman said Tuesday, joking that it was a novel way for the communist nation to mark the inauguration of South Korea's new president.
Pyongyang launched the anti-ship missile on Monday, the eve of Roh Moo-hyun's inauguration. It splashed harmlessly into the Sea of Japan.
"Typically at times of inaugural festivities, most nations send flowers or bouquets or visiting dignitaries. North Korea sent a short-range cruise missile," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer quipped.
He said the missile launch fit a pattern in which North Korea "engages in rather bizarre actions and then expects the world to pay them or negotiate with them to give them something in exchange for stopping what they shouldn't have done in the first place."
"North Korea will not be rewarded for bad behavior, they should not expect any types of financial inducements as a result of their actions," Fleischer said. "This is a regional issue for the nations in the region to deal with."
Other top U.S. officials tried to play down the significance of the launch at a time when the Bush administration is trying to focus world opinion on Iraq. Secretary of State Colin Powell, in South Korea for the inauguration, called it a "fairly innocuous kind of test."
Fleischer, asked whether he meant to leave the impression that the administration viewed the launch as a laughing matter, said: "Nothing like this can be a laughing matter, no, but it's part and parcel of a pattern of odd behavior for North Korea which has led to their deep isolation around the world." |
