North Korea had developed weapons of mass destruction for several years prior to Bush's inauguration, and the Clinton administration had sought to trade economic assistance for an end to the North Korean WMD program. Though Secretary of State Powell urged the continuation of the rapprochement, other administration officials, including Vice President Cheney, were more skeptical of the good faith of the North Koreans. Bush instead sought to isolate North Korea in the hope that the regime would eventually collapse. North Korea launched missile tests on July 5, 2006, leading to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1695. The country said on October 3, 2006 "The U.S. extreme threat of a nuclear war and sanctions and pressure compel the DPRK to conduct a nuclear test", which the Bush administration denied and denounced. Days later on October 9, 2006, North Korea followed through on its promise to test nuclear weapons. On October 14, 2006, the Security Council unanimously passed United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718, sanctioning North Korea for the test. In the waning days of his presidency, Bush attempted to re-open negotiations with North Korea, but North Korea continued to develop its nuclear programs. On May 7, 2007, North Korea agreed to shut down its nuclear reactors immediately pending the release of frozen funds held in a foreign bank account. This was a result of a series of three-way talks initiated by the United States and including China. On September 2, 2007, North Korea agreed to disclose and dismantle all its nuclear programs by the end of 2007. Following the September 11 attacks, in which eleven Australian citizens were also killed, there was an enormous outpouring of sympathy from Australia for the United States. Prime Minister John Howard became one of President George W. Bush's strongest international supporters, and supported the United States in the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 by invoking the ANZUS treaty and the invasion of Iraq in 2003, by deploying Australian forces in both wars. In 2004 the Bush Administration "fast tracked" a free trade agreement with Australia. "The Sydney Morning Herald" called the deal a "reward" for Australia's contribution of troops to the Iraq invasion. Relations with New Zealand under the Bush administration improved and became increasingly closer especially after Prime Minister Helen Clark visited the White House on March 22, 2007. Following the 9/11 attacks, Prime Minister Clark contributed New Zealand military forces to the War in Afghanistan.