Washington, Oct 21: US Secretary of State Colin Powell has said if North Korea does not give up its nuclear weapons programme in return for the assurances US President George W Bush is prepared to give, "there are options available to the US and to the international community in the presence of continued North Korean intransigence." "North Korea has violated the agreements it entered into with the Clinton administration, and with South Korea some 11 years ago, and its obligations under a number of international agreements supervised by the international atomic energy agency," Powell said in an interview on Sunday.
"So, there are options available to the US and to the international community in the presence of continued North Korean intransigence. I hope that the neighbours of North Korea, who perhaps have more influence in North Korea than we do, will be able to persuade North Korea that it is in their interest to find a solution to this problem," he said.
Normally, "options" are an indirect way of threatening to use force but Powell also said that bush is committed to "a diplomatic solution, a political solution."
Asked what if North Korea said "no" to giving up its nuclear weapons programme, and whether the us would then have no choice other than going to the Security Council or considering military options, Powell said "there are a lot of `ifs' and a lot of questions there."