As US officials expressed President Bush's willingness to talk to North Korea over the crisis that has arisen as the United States prepares for possible war with Iraq, Secretary of State Colin Powell reassured Pyongyang that Washington wanted to find a peaceful solution for the Korean peninsula.

"We don't want to escalate any crisis. We don't want war," Powell was quoted as saying in an interview with Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

"We have no unfriendly intentions toward North Korea ... we are seeking to solve the situation diplomatically."

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Pyongyang had chosen to isolate itself from the international community.

"We have made plain that we will talk to North Korea about dismantlement of their programs," he told reporters. "North Korea has chosen to develop nuclear weapons, to isolate itself from the world and not to talk to the United States."

Adding to a flurry of diplomatic activity, a Russian envoy arrived in Beijing on Friday en route to Pyongyang, saying he was optimistic about his delicate mission.

"South Korea needs to convince North Korea to give up its nuclear development program," Roh told a gathering of U.S. and European business leaders in Seoul.

"In order to convince North Korea, there needs to be dialogue between North Korea and the United States. I would like to urge the United States to actively pursue dialogue with North Korea."

NUCLEAR PROGRAM

The United States wants to confine discussion with Pyongyang to its suspected nuclear programs, but North Korea wants no such conditions.

"The DPRK (North Korea) is fully ready for both dialogue and confrontation," Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency said.

"The US should bear in mind that all the issues can be settled satisfactorily at the dialogue with the DPRK only when the former has a sincere attitude based on good faith."

The crisis erupted last October when Washington said Pyongyang admitted to pursuing a nuclear weapons program, and escalated as North Korea expelled International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, pulled out of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and threatened to resume missile tests.

Roh said he saw "no need to worry" too much, apparently seeking to play down remarks a day earlier by Defense Minister Lee Jun, who said South Korea was prepared for the "worst-case scenario" of war between the North and the United States.

"I will closely consult with Japan, China, Russia and the EU and other countries while continuing to convince Pyongyang to give up its nuclear program," Roh said.

North Korea, set on edge a year ago when Bush grouped it with Iraq and Iran in an "axis of evil," has made clear the crisis could be solved only through talks with the United States.

Bush has expressed optimism a peaceful solution can be found. He has stressed the United States has no intention of attacking North Korea.

At the same time, he has threatened to disarm Iraq forcibly if Baghdad refuses to give up its alleged weapons of mass destruction. The Pentagon has sent ships, planes and thousands of troops to the Gulf region in preparation for a possible war with Iraq.

(China Daily January 18, 2003)