US increases pressure on N Korea

The US is looking for a diplomatic solution to the crisis

The US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, has increased pressure on North Korea over its nuclear ambitions.

He said he hoped that the International Atomic Energy Agency would soon refer Pyongyang's decision to withdraw from an international nuclear non-proliferation treaty to the United Nations Security Council.

CRISIS CHRONOLOGY

16 Oct: N Korea acknowledges secret nuclear programme, US says

14 Nov: Oil shipments to N Korea halted

22 Dec: N Korea removes monitoring devices at Yongbyon nuclear plant

31 Dec: UN nuclear inspectors forced to leave North Korea

10 Jan: N Korea pulls out of anti-nuclear treaty

11 Jan: Pyongyang suggests it could resume ballistic missile tests

Timeline of tensions

Such a move could result in sanctions against North Korea, a development that the communist state says it would regard as an act of war.

Mr Powell's comments came as a Russian envoy, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov, met North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in an attempt to resolve the stand-off between Washington and Pyongyang.

The United States had been signalling that it wanted a compromise. Last week, President George W Bush offered direct talks, and held out the prospect of increased aid to North Korea if it ended its nuclear programme.

BBC Washington correspondent Jon Leyne says the Americans seem to have chosen a "carrot and stick" strategy: more aid for North Korea if it co-operates, the possibility of sanctions if it does not.

'Progress'

Speaking on the American network CNN, Mr Powell said: "It is being considered by the IAEA, and I hope that the board of governors will meet in the not-too-distant future... and from that meeting they can refer the matter to the Security Council."

At the same time, he said that international efforts to find a peaceful solution to the crisis had achieved some results.

"I think we are seeing some progress with respect to the work we are doing with our friends in the [South-East Asian] region."

The US secretary of state discussed the issue with several foreign ministers who had gathered in New York for a UN Security Council meeting on counter-terrorism.

North Korea has responded to Mr Powell's comments by saying it will only negotiate with the US, and rejecting a UN role in the crisis.

It insisted that there must be a formal non-aggression pact between the two countries and "face-to-face" negotiations.

Russian package

The Russian envoy to North Korea said he had held substantive and successful talks with the North Korean leader, the Russian news agency Itar-Tass reports.

Mr Losyukov gave no indications of the substance of his six hours of discussions with Mr Kim, which took place at a heavily guarded official residence on the northern outskirts of Pyongyang.

He reportedly presented a Russian plan to resolve the stand-off. This envisages nuclear-free status for the Korean peninsula, security guarantees for North Korea, and a package of humanitarian and economic aid.

Russia has close relations with North Korea and is looking to build a rail link that would allow freight traffic between Europe and South Korea.

Beijing talks

Washington is seeking the assistance of China, North Korea's closest ally, to help resolve the dispute.

The US Under-Secretary of State, John Bolton, held talks in Beijing with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Guangya on Monday.

Mr Bolton is the second high-level US diplomat to visit the region recently

After the meeting, Mr Bolton suggested that China was not against the involvement of the UN Security Council.

"I do not detect any substantial opposition to bringing the matter into the council," he told a news conference.

The Chinese "are absolutely in agreement with us that they do not want nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula", he added. "That is the true bottom line here."

South Korean concerns

Meanwhile, South Korea has indicated that it would not favour the UN Security Council imposing sanctions against North Korea.

The senior Foreign Policy Advisor to South Korea's president-elect, Roh Moo-hyun, told the BBC that calm diplomacy was needed to deal with Pyongyang.

Ministerial level talks between North and South Korea are due to get under way on Tuesday.

The dispute began in October when Washington said Pyongyang had acknowledged developing nuclear weapons in violation of a 1994 agreement.

The US suspended fuel shipments to North Korea, which in turn expelled UN nuclear inspectors, reactivated nuclear facilities and withdrew from the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.