Crawford, Tex. ? President Bush and Chinese President Jiang Zemin agreed Friday that North Korea should scrap its nuclear weapons program and pledged to resolve the standoff peacefully. But the leaders did not say how they would sway Pyongyang, which accused Bush anew of warmongering.

“Both sides will continue to work toward a nuclear weapons-free Korean Peninsula and a peaceful resolution of this issue,” Bush said after more than an hour of talks and a tour-by-pickup of his 1,600-acre ranch.

China, a major trading partner of Pyongyang, is key to Bush’s plans for increasing economic pressure on North Korea to disarm.

“Chinese always held the position that the Korean Peninsula should be nuclear-weapon free,” Jiang said in a joint news conference with Bush.

“We’re completely in the dark as far as the recent development,” the Chinese leader said. “But today President Bush and I agreed that the problem should be resolved peacefully.”

Afterward, a senior administration official said the leaders did not discuss, even privately, specific steps for punishing North Korea. He characterized the talks as the first step toward mobilizing international public opinion against the North Korean program.

The talks came on the eve of Bush’s trip to Mexico for the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, where he will meet with leaders of Japan and South Korea to develop a joint strategy for working to press for North Korea’s disarmament.

Bush and Jiang also discussed Iraq, a point dividing their two nations.

The Bush administration wants a U.N. resolution that holds out the threat of military action unless Saddam Hussein disarms. China, Russia and France each of which has the power to veto a resolution are cool to language that suggests the use of force.

As Russia and France circulated plans to water down the proposed U.S. resolution, Bush said he would not accept a weak measure.

“Let me put it bluntly: There must be consequences,” he said.

President Bush and first lady Laura Bush, right, welcome Chinese President Jiang Zemin and his wife, Wang Yeping, to their ranch in Crawford, Tex. Bush and Jiang consulted Friday on North Korea's nuclear weapons development.

Bush said he urged Jiang to back the U.S. position. Aides said he received no assurances.

Chased indoors by chilly weather and the threat of rain, the leaders answered questions in a hangar that houses Marine One, the president’s helicopter. Blue drapes covered a bare metal wall, and the flags of both countries were lined up behind the men.

Jiang arrived 30 minutes late to the ranch, prompting the perpetually punctual U.S. president to glance at his watch as he awaited his guest. “We could be fishing,” Bush cracked, pointing to a nearby pond.

All was forgiven later, when Bush and Jiang hopped in the president’s white pickup for a tour of the Prairie Chapel ranch.

At the news conference, a heavily scripted Jiang read from cue cards as he answered two questions posed by Chinese reporters. Bush fielded his questions off the cuff, though he avoided direct answers to the queries.

North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations accused Bush of preparing a pre-emptive strike by including North Korea in the “axis of evil,” along with Iraq and Iran.

Pak Gil Yon also said Pyongyang “was entitled to possess not only nuclear weapon but any type of weapon more powerful than that so as to defend its sovereignty and right to existence.”

Bush and Jiang sidestepped questions about how they would respond to North Korea’s defiance.

“Our first step to make sure we resolve this peacefully is to work with our friends, is to remind our friends of the dangers of a nuclear regime on the Korean Peninsula,” Bush said.

North Korea wants a U.S. pledge of nonaggression, respect for the country’s sovereignty and the right to economic development before relieving America’s concerns about its nuclear program. Bush was asked about the proposal, but did not respond.

A senior White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, dismissed North Korea’s call for a nonaggression pact, saying the nation must dismantle its nuclear program before relations can improve.

Bush said Vice President Dick Cheney would visit China in the spring.