US rules out attack on North Korea

Washington, Oct 11 (UNI) The United States has ruled out any intention to invade North Korea or bring about a regime change in Pyongyang in the wake of its claimed nuclear test last Monday, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

''That element of our policy still stands, what we have sought is a change in the behavior of the North Korean regime,'' he said yesterday.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in a CNN interview, also ruled out attack but warned that North Korea now risked sanctions ''unlike anything that they have faced before.'' The United States, in its resolve to punish North Korea, is helped by the support extended by China, Pyongyang's closest ally.

''For China, we need to have a firm, constructive, appropriate, but prudent response,'' said Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Wang Guangya in New York yesterday.

''There have to be some punitive actions, but I think these actions have to be appropriate,'' he added.

Though there is an agreement among all the five permanent members ofthe United Nations' Security Council - United States, Britain, France, Russia and China - on the need for sanctioning North Korea, they differ on the extent of punishment.

The United States, Britain and France insist on a resolution under Charter VII of the United Nations the enforcement of which has both imposition of economic sanctions and the possibility of military action.

The US proposal also contains a 30-day deadline within which North Korea has to change its course or invite further punishment. The sanctions proposed by Washington include international inspections of all cargo moving in and out of North Korea to detect weapons-related materials.

However, the proposed US sanctions exempt food, medicine and other humanitarian goods for civilian use.

Japan is suggesting a tougher line, favoring a ban on North Korean exports and arrival of its ships and planes in foreign countries.

China, however, appears unwilling to go along with such a harsh stance, arguing that imposition of trade sanctions would cripple North Korea's struggling economy. It also wants exclusion of any kind of military threat.

Russia, by and large, supports Chinese stand in this case.

US Ambassador John Bolton admitted that the Security Council had not yet reached the agreement. ''I'm still pleased with the directions in which the things are going,'' he remarked. The United States wants agreement on theresolution this week.

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