Washington, Oct 30: Secretary of State Colin Powell has said North Korea faces a grim economic future unless it abides by growing international demands to surrender its nuclear weapons program. "No North Korean child can eat enriched uranium," Powell told a news conference yesterday after Pyongyang insisted during talks with Japanese officials in Malaysia that it would not dismantle its nuclear program.
"It is fool's gold for North Korea,'' Powell said, flanked by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the Foreign and Defense Ministers of Australia. He said that once North Korea ``starts to behave in a more responsible way, the better off they will be and the better off the people of North Korea will be.''
Powell suggested there has been a softening of the US concern on how quickly North Korea should act to dismantle its nuclear program.



Last week, the State Department was demanding an ``immediate'' dismantling; yesterday, Powell said it should be ``prompt.''



Japan and South Korea also are giving top priority to Pyongyang's abandonment of the weapons program.



Powell noted that Japan had said this past weekend at an international conference in Mexico that ``unless North Korea gives this up, then it would not be possible to move forward toward normalization. And I think that's the right answer.''



Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Defense Minister Robert Hill came here for the annual US-Australian consultation on security issues.



Bureau Report