U.S. Senator John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, says North Korea "is a far more compelling threat in many ways" compared to Iraq.

In an interview with the New York Times, Kerry said that North Korea and Iran posed the most serious threat of putting unconventional weapons into the hands of terror groups.

Kerry accused the Bush administration of putting the problems of North Korea and Iran on the back burner, adding that North Korea "belongs at the top of the agenda."

He told the Times that he would have "dealt with threats posed by North Korea and Iran simultaneously" along with Iraq.

Kerry also said that President George W. Bush's fixation on Iraq has made the United States less safe and has allowed North Korea and Iran to pursue efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, in a separate interview with the Washington Post, Kerry said that, if elected president, he would immediately begin bilateral negotiations with North Korea while continuing with the six-party nuclear talks.

Kerry declined to say what he would offer Pyongyang inducements to drop its nuclear ambitions, but said he would be willing to discuss a broad agenda that includes reducing troop levels on the Korean Peninsula, replacing the armistice that ended the Korean War and even reunifying the two Koreas.