By Shefali Rekhi
The United States and two of its allies warned that North Korea's nuclear weapons posed a threat to the stability of the region and expressed concern over Pyongyang's continuing reluctance to join talks aimed at dismantling its nuclear programme.
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said at an international security summit here: "Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions threaten the security and stability of the region and because of their record of proliferation, it threatens the world."
He warned: "One has to assume that they'll sell anything and that they would be willing to sell nuclear technologies."
Pyongyang boycotted the six-party talks with Seoul, Washington, Beijing, Moscow and Tokyo in June last year, saying it would not join till the US dropped what it described as its hostile policy. Pyongyang's boycott of the talks and its claim to possess nuclear weapons have heightened security concerns in the region.
Admitting that he has no idea how to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table, Mr Rumsfeld said: "I have no way of knowing what might conceivably finally persuade the people in the North to behave in a way that is more consistent with the behaviour of other countries in the world."
He added: "My hope is that the countries in the six-party talks will continue to be persuasive, try to be more persuasive with them and that they will see it is in their interest to enter those discussions.”
He expressed hope that China could help persuade Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table.
Asked about the alternatives to the six-party talks, he replied: "You ask what are the alternatives... Well, it seems to me that is a question for the world to ask.”
"It requires the United Nations to ask itself if it wants to have a role in trying to avoid allowing the kind of proliferation that is threatened. No one country can do that."
Pyongyang's nuclear drive will also be discussed when US President George W. Bush meets his South Korean counterpart Roh Moo-Hyun in Washington this week, officials from Seoul said.
Japanese Minister of State for Defence Yoshinori Ohno said there was growing support for sanctions against Pyongyang if it persisted in boycotting the six-party talks.
He mentioned a recent poll which showed that two-thirds of the Japanese support a hard-line stance against North Korea, including imposing economic sanctions.
"North Korea should recognise that if it refuses to participate in the six-party talks, chances might be great that this problem will be raised in the framework of the UN Security Council," Mr Ohno said.
America's other ally, South Korea, conceded that the threat posed by Pyongyang's nuclear drive was grave but said that Seoul was not in favour of bringing the issue before the UN.
Instead, Defence Minister Yoon Kwang Ung said he was confident that North Korea would return to the talks.
But when asked what gave him confidence, Mr Yoon did not give a clear response. However, he was clear-cut in stating that the Koreans have a lot at stake in the issue.
"I'd like to emphasise we are the on-the-spot nation directly related to the North Korea nuclear issue.
"If it goes the wrong way, we will lose all economic infrastructure as well as the value of the lives of more than 40 million people in Korea."
