US Might Give Formal Security Assurances to DPRK: Powell

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, January 10, 2003

US Might Give Formal Security Assurances to DPRK: Powell

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US Secretary of State Colin Powell has held out the prospect of a settlement with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) over its nuclear programs that would include formal assurances the United States has no plans to attack it, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

"We have made it clear we have no aggressive intent," Powell said in an interview with local media. "Apparently they want something more than a passing statement."

US allies in the region, especially South Korea, and Russia have pressed the Bush administration to consider offering some kind of security guarantee to the DPRK to persuade it to reverse its decision to restart its nuclear weapons programs.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said on Wednesday that instead of isolating the DPRK, which he called "an erroneous approach," Washington should provide the security guarantee sought by Pyongyang.

Powell's remarks suggested that the Bush administration has begun to heed this concern, marking a further evolution in the US strategy to persuade the DPRK to dismantle its nuclear weapons programs.

Asked whether there was a formula that offers more than US President George W. Bush's repeated statements that the administration will not invade the DPRK and its desire for a nonaggression pact with the United States, Powell said, "You've just bounded a problem. That's what diplomacy is about."

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