Take irreversible steps towards denuclearisation: US to N Korea

Observing that North Korea poses an 'infinitesimal threat' to the US directly, a senior Obama Administration official today said that America wants the Communist nation to come back to negotiation table and take 'irreversible steps' towards 'denuclearisation' of the Korean Peninsula.

Observing that North Korea poses an "infinitesimal threat" to the US directly, a senior Obama Administration official on Tuesday said that America wants the Communist nation to come back to negotiation table and take "irreversible steps" towards "denuclearisation" of the Korean Peninsula.

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"We want to see North Korea take meaningful steps, irreversible steps towards denuclearisation. As Secretary (of Defense, Robert) Gates had earlier said we are not going to resell the same horse over and over again, so that we want to see North Korea come back to negotiations," the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, Philip J Crowley, told reporters here.

"Clearly our long-term objective has not changed, which is a denuclearised Korean Peninsula. And we want to see it taking meaningful steps, irreversible steps towards denuclearisation," he said.

Crowley, noting that nuclear-armed nation represents an 'infinitesimal threat' to the America directly, argued N Korea through its provocative actions, does represent a significant threat to the region.

"Its actions recently have been unhelpful, potentially destabilising. What we want to avoid is something that would precipitate, among other things, an arms race in Asia," he said.