The US hasn't changed its stances on the nuclear issue of Korean peninsula and suggested the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to follow the example of Libya, a senior US official said in Beijing Monday.  

"Libya opened up its WMD program to inspection ... on two separated occasions for three weeks. The example that Libya has set is there for North Korea (DPRK) to see," said US Under Secretary of State John R Bolton during a press conference, contrasting Libya's recent easing of tensions with Washington and the nuclear issue of Tripoli with that of Pyongyang.

Bolton is in Beijing for discussion with China on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) ahead the second round of six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, which is scheduled to start on February 25, 2004 in Beijing.

"You can certainly contrast Libya's behavior with the continuing behavior of North Korea and Iran," Bolton said.

The US has expressed increasing worries on the trade in nuclear technologies after Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan and the underground nuke technology trade network disclosed earlier this month. In a speech to National Defense University on February 11, US President George W. Bush called on the international community to cooperate more closely to prevent "the terrorists and terrorist states" from obtaining weapons of mass destruction.

The US is still looking for China's further participation of Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), proposed by President Bush in his Feb. 11 speech, to detect and intercept such trade of nuclear secrets. "We have cooperated with China in the past in additional efforts and we will expect it in the future as well," said Bolton.

(China Daily February 17, 2004)