US President George W. Bush said today he expected the Korean Peninsula to be "nuclear weapons free" and suggested allies in the region were cooperating in pressuring North Korea to halt its nuclear weapons program.
"They may be putting pressure on (North Korea) and you just don't know about it," Mr Bush told reporters at his Crawford, Texas, ranch.
"We are working with allies in the region to explain clearly to North Korea it is not in their interest to proliferate weapons of mass destruction," Mr Bush said, adding: "We expect the Korean Peninsula to be nuclear weapons free."
Mr Bush said he believed the standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program "will be resolved peacefully," calling it a diplomatic, not a military, issue.