April 11, 2005 - 7:05 AM

U.S. Says No Deadline, Concessions for N.Korea

By Jon Herskovitz and Jack Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea is a destabilizing force thathas exported atomic material, but there are no deadlines orconcessions to be offered for it to return to nuclear talks,the chief U.S. negotiator said on Monday.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian AffairsChristopher Hill said in an interview he was reluctant to put adeadline for North Korea to get back to the table, but did sayoptions where being considered in case the talks fell through.

"A time will come when we have to decide whether this isthe right option and whether we have to look at other options,"Hill said. "One option we don't have is to walk away. We havegot to figure out how to solve this problem."

"I am really reluctant to put a deadline out there,especially an artificial deadline," Hill told Reuters at theU.S. embassy in Seoul, where he has been ambassador for lessthan a year. It was his first interview in his new role.

Security analysts have said patience in Washington iswearing thin for Pyongyang to return to talks and recentrhetoric from the North to turn the process into mutualdisarmament talks has only made tensions worse.

Pyongyang has asked for a U.S. apology for calling it anoutpost of tyranny. There has been speculation in diplomaticcircles that Washington may have to offer sweeteners, such asconsidering diplomatic relations with Pyongyang, to get thesix-party process rolling again.

"We are not going to make concessions for the purpose ofbringing them back to the talks," he said.

Hill said North Korea, with its anemic economy and chronicfood shortages, has a host of problems that cannot be solved byhaving atomic weapons programs.

"It is a shame that so much of our diplomatic efforts areengaged in an extremely underdeveloped country that is notproducing food for its people, but which seems to be in theproduction of extremely dangerous weapons," Hill said.

He commented on media speculation the North had exporteduranium hexafluoride, which can be used to make nuclear weaponsmaterial, through a network set up by Abdul Qadeer Khan, thefather of Pakistan's atomic bomb program. The material ended upin Libya.

"In the Libya case, there was some material, where theorigin we have every reason to believe came from North Korea,albeit brokered, but the material ended up in Libya," Hillsaid.

Hill said he was not aware of other cases where the Northhas exported nuclear weapons material but he added "one has tosee a pattern of their behavior."

"I believe that we have a regime in North Korea that hastrouble in figuring out on how to draw the line and has beeninvolved in all sorts of illicit exports. I believe thatproliferation is a reason to be concerned," Hill said.

On Feb. 10, North Korea declared for the first time itpossessed nuclear weapons and it also said it was pulling outof six-party talks aimed at ending its nuclear ambitions. Thetalks bring together the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia andthe United States. (Additional reporting by Martin Nesirky)