N Korea must abide by international accords--Bush

VIENNA, June 21 (Reuters) US President George W Bush warned North Korea today against test-firing its long-range Taepodong-2 missile, saying it must abide by international agreements.

Washington says there is evidence North Korea might test-fire the Taepodong-2 and has activated a ground-based interceptor missile-defense system in case Pyongyang goes ahead with a launch.

''North Koreans have made agreements with us in the past and we expect them to keep their agreements,'' Bush told a news conference in Vienna after talks with European Union leaders.

''For example agreements on test launches - we think it would be in the world's interest to know what they're testing, what they intend to do on their test.'' He praised China for speaking out against a North Korean missile test.

''One of our strategies on North Korea is to make sure we include other countries as a part of our consortium to deal with this non-transparent regime,'' Bush said.

For North Korea to be an accepted nation it must abide by ''international norms,'' he said.

REUTERS SHR PM1947