Saturday, May 31, 2003

US Official: Economic pressure can end N. Korean nuclear standoff

SINGAPORE (AP) - The United States hopes that by putting pressure on North Korea's battered economy it will be able to resolve a nuclear standoff with the reclusive communist country, U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said Saturday.

"The country is teetering on the edge of economic collapse,'' Wolfowitz said. "That I believe is a major point of leverage.''

North Korea will respond to economic pressure unlike Iraq where military action was necessary because the country's oil money was propping up the regime, Wolfowitz told delegates at the 2nd annual Asia Security Conference in Singapore.

"The primary difference between North Korea and Iraq is that we had virtually no economic options in Iraq because the country floats on a sea of oil,'' he said.

Wolfowitz did not elaborate on how Washington intends to put economic pressure on North Korea.

His comments come amid heightened tension on the divided Korean Peninsula over North Korea's suspected development of nuclear weapons.

Wolfowitz also repeated warnings that North Korea was very likely to sell nuclear weapons or components to other groups.

North Korea's decision to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and reactivate mothballed nuclear facilities has become a focus of discussions at the conference.

North Korea did not accept an invitation to attend.

In April, the United States and North Korea held talks in Beijing. U.S. officials said that North Korea claimed at the talks that it already had nuclear weapons, but would give up its nuclear programs in return for economic aid and security guarantees.

The United States is working with its close allies, Japan and South Korea, as well as China and Russia to persuade North Korea to emulate China's economic reforms over the past two decades to prevent economic collapse, Wolfowitz said.

By devoting as much as half of their gross national product to developing nuclear weapons, North Korea was heading down a "blind alley,'' he said.

Pyongyang must follow the lead of late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping who launched a sweeping economic liberalization campaign in 1979 aimed at opening up China to the global marketplace, Wolfowitz said.

Deng kept a firm grip on politics and civil rights while reforming the economy and his pragmatic approach has largely resulted in a steady and stable transition toward a free market economy. - AP

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US Official: Economic pressure can end N. Korean nuclear standoff