A U.S. Army soldier from 3/1 AD Task Force Bulldog uses his night vision equipment before an early morning joint patrol with Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers in a village in Kherwar district in Logar province, eastern Afghanistan, May 22, 2012. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

Reuters Photojournalism

Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography.  See more | Photo caption 

Photo

Maxim Hot 100

The world's most beautiful women as chosen by Maxim readers.  Slideshow 

A cross is seen in Joplin, Missouri May 17, 2012. May 22 marks the one year anniversary of a deadly EF-5 tornado that ripped through the town, killing 161 people. The tornado damaged or destroyed about 7,500 homes and 500 other buildings, but the city is now well into a recovery mode that has spurred some segments of the local economy. REUTERS/Eric Thayer (UNITED STATES - Tags: DISASTER ENVIRONMENT RELIGION)

Joplin, one year after

May 22 marks the one year anniversary of a deadly tornado that ripped through Joplin, Missouri, killing 161 people.  Slideshow 

FACTBOX: Previous U.S. comments about Kim Jong-il

Related Topics

Thu Dec 6, 2007 10:57am EST

(Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush wrote to North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il and told him Pyongyang must make good on its promise to reveal all details of its nuclear programs, the White House said on Thursday.

No other details were disclosed of the contents of the unusual personal communication from Bush to a communist dictator he has professed to loathe. Following are some of the comments made in the past about the Korean leader:

- "I loathe Kim Jong-il," Bush told Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward in an August 2002 interview. "I've got a visceral reaction to this guy, because he is starving his people."

- At a closed-door meeting with Republican senators in May 2003, Bush called Kim a "Pygmy" and compared him to a "spoiled child at a dinner table," according to Newsweek.

- Bush referred to "a tyrant in North Korea" at a meeting in Brazil in November 2005.

- In his 2002 State of the Union speech, Bush said North Korea, along with Iran and Iraq, constituted an "axis of evil."

- Bush called North Korea a "heartless country" after meeting with dissidents in April 2006 and said they left because "they did not want to have their child grow up in a society that was brutal, a society that did not respect the human condition."

- Condoleezza Rice said in May 2006 interview with Fox News that North Korea should be termed "evil." "I know sometimes in America we have trouble using words like 'evil,' and I know that there can be dangers inherent in using it," she said. "But there's some acts, some regimes, that act in that way." (Compiled by Andy Sullivan in Washington, editing by Alan Elsner)

Comments (0)
This discussion is now closed. We welcome comments on our articles for a limited period after their publication.