WASHINGTON, Oct 14: The United States will not accept North Korea as a nuclear power and if Pyongyang is nursing any illusion of joining the nuclear club, it’s mistaken, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs Christopher Hill has said.

“We’re not going to live with a North Korea that’s a nuclear power,” he told reporters at the National Press Club.

“If the plan by North Korea is to emulate past experiences, where a country explodes a nuclear weapon, announces its membership in the club and is a member of the nuclear club, we’re not going to accept it,” he said.

Mr Hill, who is Washington’s point man for negotiations with Pyongyang, said the US would go beyond diplomacy and adopt methods for preventing North Korea from acquiring nuclear technology and finances.

“We’ve just been discussing ways to prevent them from getting the technology, ways to prevent them from getting the financing, I think that is a key part of this,” he said.

“And, ultimately, I have to believe in the logic that these nuclear weapons will leave North Korea more impoverished and less secure than ever before,” he said.