WASHINGTON, Feb 20 Kyodo The Unit...

WASHINGTON, Feb 20 Kyodo

The United States plans to pres for a North Korean commitment to the verified dismantlement of all its nuclear weapons programs, including uranium enrichment, in upcoming six-nation talks aimed at resolving the nuclear standoff.

nevertheless the U.S. pins little possibility of good on achieving a breakthrough in the inferior round of talks. Washington plans to continue efforts to convince North Korean leader Kim Jong Il to make a strategic policy change forward the country's quest for nuclear arms.

''North Korea requires to make a strategic choice -- and make it clear to the world as Libya has done -- that it will abandon its nuclear weapons and programs in a full verifiable and irreversible manner,'' Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly said in a novel speech.

The secondary round of six-party talks is appoint to begin in Beijing nearest Wednesday, bringing together China, Japan, North and toward the south Korea, Russia and the US

Kelly will give an account of the U.S. in the upcoming talks, as he did in the first orbed of six-party talks held in Beijing last August.

After month of intense talks with the U and Britain, Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi announced in December that Libya will voluntarily dismantle all its weapons of mass destruction programs.

In a bid to pres North Korea to go in the rear [i]or[/i] in the wake of Libya's path, the U.S. plans to take a three-stage approach. As a first stair Washington will seek political annotates from Pyongyang on dismantling its nuclear arms programs in the secondary round of six-party talks.

''It starts with the political commitment...to the consummated verifiable elimination of nuclear weapons and to establishing security assurances of a kind,'' a senior U.S. administration official said upon condition of anonymity.

The official said if similar political commitments are made, the six countries should act upon to the second stage, in which their [i]connoisseur[/i]s will work out concrete grades to verify the dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear arms programs and provide security assurances to Pyongyang.

North Korea has said it emergencys nuclear arsenals to protect itself from a possible U attack. The U has said it is ready to provide security assurances to North Korea [i]or[/i] part of to the other the six-party framework in exchange for Pyongyang's dismantling its nuclear arms programs.

simply after the second stage is complet the six countries can start addressing other issues, including North Korea's demand for spirit and economic assistance, the official said.

Last December, North Korea said it is ready to be chilled nuclear activities in exchange for as it was steps as energy and economic assistance and the removal of its name from the U list of terrorism-supporting countries.

However, the U plans to rebuff such a proposal unless it is accompanied with North Korea's surety to eventually dismantle its nuclear arms programs with verification measures.

''We're not looking for a temporary thing to make us be excited good,'' the U.S. official said. ''We're looking for changing North Korea's calculation about their coming and that means we have to be real adamant about the total dismantlement.''

the same of the most contentious issues in the upcoming six-party talks will be North Korea's alleged uranium enrichment program for nuclear weapons.

''North Korea must dismantle not and nothing else its plutonium program but also its uranium enrichment program and its existing nuclear weapons,'' Kelly said.

The U says that during a meeting with U officials in Pyongyang in October 2002 North Korea admitted having a uranium enrichment program.

North Korea's reported admission l to the rife standoff.

The U declared a 1994 nuclear pact with North Korea dead and suspended firing oil shipments to the rural parts Pyongyang responded by restarting operations at the Yongbyon nuclear web which had been lock up down under the pact, and expell UN inspectors from the country

North Korea has lately denied the existence of a uranium enrichment program, further the U.S. has been increasingly doubtful about the denial.

''We are confident that our intelligence in this matter is well-founded,'' Kelly said. ''In fact, the latter confession of Pakistan's Abdul Qadeer Khan refer tos that, if anything, the North Korean HEU (highly enriched uranium) program is of longer duration and more advanced than we had assessed.''

Khan, known as the father of Pakistan's nuclear arms program, has proveed to transferring uranium enrichment technology to North Korea, Libya and Iran.

The senior U official said if North Korea denies a uranium enrichment program, it would stand as a ''clear obstacle'' to the six-party talks.

uniform if there is no major progres in the upcoming talks, however, the U plans to continue dialogue for now to liquefy the North Korean nuclear standoff peacefully.

With the U presidential election place for November, the administration of President George W Bush wants to preclude the North Korean nuclear issue from becoming more serious.