WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that "a range of options" could be pursued against North Korea if it tests a long-range ballistic missile, including seeking action in the U.N. Security Council.
Clinton said the United States still hoped to dissuade North Korea from a "provocative" missile launch and convince the isolated state to re-engage in six-party talks aimed at ending its nuclear arms program.
North Korea has said it plans to test-fire a missile with the potential to reach U.S. territory, although Pyongyang says it is simply launching a satellite as part of a peaceful space program.
"We will discuss a response if we are not successful in convincing them not to go forward with what is a very provocative act," Clinton told reporters after a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.
"There are a range of options available to take action against the North Koreans in the wake of a missile launch if they pursue that," she said.
A missile launch would violate a U.N. Security Council resolution that forbids Pyongyang from further nuclear tests or ballistic missile launches, she said.
China is part of six-party talks to end North Korea's nuclear arms program that have been stalled for months, and Clinton said all the participants were worried about the prospects of a launch.
"Our partners in the six-party talks are concerned about the missile launch, they are willing to address it if it does happen with us in a variety of ways, including the Security Council," she said.
"But I don't want to talk about hypotheticals, we are still working to try to dissuade the North Koreans," she added.
ANNUAL MILITARY EXERCISE
Tensions have risen on the Korean peninsula in recent weeks ahead of a possible launch. North Korea said on Monday it was putting its armed forces on full combat readiness in response to the start of annual military exercises by U.S. and South Korean troops.
On Tuesday, a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman was quoted as calling the military drill "nuclear war exercises designed to mount a preemptive attack on the DPRK" -- a comment a U.S. State Department spokesman dismissed as "nonsense."
Pyongyang has said any attempt to shoot down the long-range Taepodong-2 missile would amount to an act of war. The missile is designed to reach as far as Alaska but has never successfully flown.
Clinton said the U.S. envoy for North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, had hoped to be invited to Pyongyang for talks last week during a tour of North Asian capitals.
"He was not invited to go to North Korea, which we regret. He was prepared to go on a moment's notice to begin discussions with the North Koreans," she said.
She said the United States is still committed to the six-party process, which stalled after Pyongyang complained that aid given in return for crippling its nuclear plant at Yongbyon was not being delivered as promised in the deal.
The secretive North has balked at a demand by the other five powers in the talks -- South Korea, China, Japan, Russia, and the United States -- that it commit to a system to verify claims it made about its nuclear program.
Clinton noted North Korea's missile program was not part of the six-party talks but said she would like to see the issue included in discussions.
"But most importantly, we would like to see North Korea evidence in some way their willingness to re-engage with all of us and to work together on the agenda that they agreed to in the six-party talks," she said.
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