US seeks Australian help with NKorea sanctions

SYDNEY, Oct 29 (Reuters) The United States will look to close ally Australia to provide some military muscle to UN sanctions against North Korea once details are worked out, US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said today.

''I would think that as we look to the difficulties of policing this in Asia, we would look for countries with capabilities, and Australia has real capabilities in this regard,'' Hill told a public forum hosted by the Sydney Institute.

Hill, chief US envoy for North Korean affairs, was to meet senior Australian officials during a brief visit, and he said cooperation on sanctions enforcement would be on the agenda.

''I think we will certainly continue our dialogue to see where specifically we can work together. It's pretty early in the process,'' he said.

Last week, Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said Australia was prepared to provide a warship to help interdict cargo vessels heading to or from North Korea as part of any UN sanctions regime.

The Security Council voted on October 14 to slap Pyongyang with financial and arms sanctions after it staged its first nuclear test on October 9, but details of the plan and its full scope are still under debate.

China backed the sanctions but enthusiasm in both Beijing and Seoul has been tempered by fear that North Korea's precarious economy could collapse, unleashing a flood of refugees and detabilising the region. Russia has also urged caution.

The United States, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea are all participants in now-stalled six-party talks with North Korea.

Hill said that specific enforcement mechanisms for the UN sanctions still had to be resolved before any action could begin.

''We'll obviously be very closely in touch with the Australians on this.'' In separate remarks, Hill praised China for exerting pressure on North Korea in concert with other powers.

''A key member of that whole effort in the Security Council was ... China,'' he told Australia's ABC television. ''They're very concerned about what their neighbour has been doing.

''So I think it was a big step for China, and I think that is one of the key issues as we go forward -- how to work closely with China.'' Speaking to reporters later, Hill said it was unclear whether North Korea was preparing a second nuclear test, as some analysts suspect. ''It was a bad idea to have a first nuclear test, it would be a worse idea to have a second,'' he said.

REUTERS SP VV0947