January 10, 2003	Friday	Ziqa’ad 6, 1423

WASHINGTON, Jan 9: The US is sending a senior official to East Asia to consult allies on the North Korea crisis.

Assistant Secretary of State James A. Kelly is to leave on Sunday for a seven-day tour of China, South Korea, Indonesia, Japan and Singapore, the State Department said on Wednesday.

In his talks with officials in the seven capitals, Mr Kelly “will talk about ... global, regional, bilateral issues of concern, including North Korea, the fight against terrorism and other events,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said at a news briefing.

Another senior official, Undersecretary of State John R. Bolton, will also visit the region later this month.

Bolton, who oversees arms control and international security, is expected to discuss the issue of nuclear proliferation with officials in China, Japan and South Korea.

Boucher, however, refused to say if Kelly or Bolton would visit Pyongyang too.

“What we said (on Tuesday) is we’re willing to talk to the North Koreans about how they can come into compliance with their obligations,” he said. “I would not speculate at all on how, when or where that might happen.”

He said a visit to North Korea was not on the cards “at this time”.

Boucher said Washington had told the North Koreans through their diplomats at the United Nations that it wanted to “solve this situation peacefully”.

Boucher said the pressures and the tools the United States was using to force North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons programme was different from those applied to Iraq “because the history is different”.

He described the 12-year history of Iraq’s defiance as “a unique situation”, adding that Iraq had used weapons of mass destruction against its own people and neighbours.

“In order to solve these (two) situations peacefully, we are bringing different means and tools and efforts to bear,” he added.