North Korea Urged to Resume Talks

WASHINGTON — Senior U.S. and Japanese officials urged North Korea on Saturday to resume negotiations aimed at eliminating its nuclear weapons program, while a top Chinese diplomat visited Pyongyang to push the same message.

There were no immediate signs of progress.

In Pyongyang, foreign ministry officials reportedly rejected a revival of the six-party disarmament talks. And North Korea's U.N. ambassador reportedly said the country needed nuclear weapons to deter a U.S. attack.

The flurry of high-level diplomatic activity reflected concern over the Communist regime's Feb. 10 declaration that it had begun producing nuclear arms and U.S. allegations that Pyongyang may have provided nuclear material to Libya's now-defunct weapons program.

Both claims remain unconfirmed, but according to U.S. intelligence, Kim Jong Il's regime had produced enough fissile material a few years ago to build several nuclear bombs.

"We share a concern about events on the Korean peninsula," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said at a news conference in Washington after she and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld met their Japanese counterparts.

Japan's foreign minister, Nobutaka Machimura, called for an "early and unconditional resumption" of disarmament talks. "Should we let the time slip by, then I think it will only worsen the situation."

White House officials tried to downplay Pyongyang's declaration that it is a nuclear power, saying North Korea has made similar claims in the past. But Machimura appeared to disagree.

"Until now, until recently, they spoke more in vague terms and indirect terms," he said. "And this is the first time that they have declared openly."

In a joint statement, the U.S. and Japanese officials said North Korea's nuclear program was a serious challenge to nonproliferation efforts and a threat to peace and stability in northeast Asia.

They urged Pyongyang to return to the six-party talks and commit itself "to the complete dismantlement of all its nuclear programs, including its uranium enrichment program, under credible international verification."

Rice said the negotiations could help North Korea change its relationship with the rest of the world and could produce "mutual security guarantees." She said Pyongyang must take the international community's concerns seriously.

"They ought to return to those talks so that people don't have to contemplate other measures," she said. "They have a path ahead of them."