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WASHINGTON, Thursday (Reuters) The U.S. and South Korean presidents vowed to work with international allies to achieve the "verifiable and irreversible elimination" of communist North Korea's nuclear weapons.

"President Roh and President Bush reaffirmed that they will not tolerate nuclear weapons in North Korea," said a joint statement issued after summit talks at the White House between South Korea's Roh Moo-hyun and George W. Bush.

"They noted with serious concern North Korea's statements about reprocessing, possession of nuclear weapons, and its threat to demonstrate or transfer those weapons," it said, referring to assertions that Pyongyang made in talks in Beijing last month.

Meeting for the first time, Roh and Bush said they were confident the seven-month-old crisis could be solved peacefully, but added that "increased threats to peace and stability on the peninsula would require consideration of further steps," it said.

The four-page English statement did not specify what steps might be considered. Washington has insisted that the military option remain on the table and called for moves to squeeze North Korea economically - policies Seoul has resisted so far.

"They stressed that escalatory moves by North Korea will only lead to its greater isolation and a more desperate situation in the North," it added.

In addition to China, which hosted talks last month at which North Korean told the United States it had nuclear arms, the two leaders said they wanted Japan and Russia to help end the crisis.

Roh, who began his visit in New York on Sunday and will fly to San Francisco on Thursday, had worked hard on his first foreign tour since taking power in February to dispel perceptions among some that he is soft on Pyongyang and anti-American.

In a brief appearance together in the White House Rose Garden after their meeting in the Oval Office, Bush and Roh - both 56 years old - touted their new-found friendship.

"I have found the president to be an easy man to talk to. He expresses his opinions very clearly and it's easy to understand," Bush told reporters.

"There's no question in my mind we'll have the kind of personal relationship where we will consult freely to solve major problems," he added.

Meanwhile North Korea told the United States on Thursday to drop its "hostile policy" if it wanted to end a crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons ambitions.

The comments in a commentary in Thursday's edition of the ruling party daily newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, were published as U.S. President George W. Bush and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun met at a summit in Washington.

"It will be possible to settle the outstanding issues between the DPRK and the U.S., including the nuclear issue, only if the U.S. opts to renounce its hostile policy toward the DPRK and approaches dialogue from a proper stand, though belatedly," Rodong Sinmun said, according to the North's KCNA news agency.

"There is neither reason nor pretext for the U.S. to fail to renounce its hostile policy toward the DPRK in order to defuse the tensions and settle the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula, now that the DPRK advanced a new comprehensive bold proposal for clearing up U.S. security concerns," the newspaper said.

Washington has reacted unenthusiastically to a proposal by the North that it would give up its nuclear plans in exchange for concessions from the West, including aid.

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