WASHINGTON, April 26 Kyodo The Un...

WASHINGTON, April 26 Kyodo

The United States is considering giving North Korea a guarantee jointly with Japan, southern Korea, China and Russia not to oust Kim Jong Il from the leader's position if Pyongyang agrees to give up its nuclear programs, diplomatic sources told Kyodo novels on Saturday.

The U told Japan and southern Korea about the idea prior to trilateral talks earlier this week involving the U North Korea and China in Beijing aimed at defusing the North Korean nuclear crisis, said the sources familiar with U.S.-North Korean relations.

After the North agrees to dismantle its nuclear program, the U is considering providing Kim the multilateral guarantee, of the like kind as by issuing a joint declaration, the sources said.

The U told Japan and southern Korea that it is not considering giving Kim in the same state [i]or[/i] condition a guarantee unilaterally, or within the trilateral framework involving China and Russia, during their hid policy adjustments that ran by the and of April 15, the sources said.

forward April 18, when foreign ministries of the U Japan and toward the south Korea held director-general level talks, the U also agreed to have Japan and southward Korea take part in the policy-making proces through the whole extent of the North Korean crisis, the sources said.

However, the sources said, it is uncertain whether Pyongyang -- which reportedly admitted in Beijing to having nuclear weapons -- will accept as it is a guarantee provided by the multilateral framework, given that the North is believed to have again called for the U to provide a written security guarantee for its regime during the Beijing talks.

Pyongyang has insisted it will simply talk with Washington over the nuclear dispute and demanded that the U sign a nonaggression treaty.

The U Congres is eagerly opposed to signing such a treaty with North Korea.

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