Washington: Demanding that Pyongyang "verifiably eliminate" its illegal weapons of mass destruction, the US has said while it seeks a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the North Korean nuclear crisis, the military option remains.

"President (George W) Bush has repeatedly said we seek a peaceful, diplomatic solution with North Korea, even though he has taken no option off the table," Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, James A Kelly said during a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations committee.

Bush has also stressed, "We the US will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of North Korea and it will not use food as a weapon," and noted that US recently announced an initial contribution of 40,000 tonnes of food aid to the North through World Food Programme.

To resolve the nuclear crisis, "our idea is that the Permanent Five – US, China, France, Britain and Russia – to meet together with the Republic of Korea (South Korea), Japan, the European Union (EU) and Australia. Others have suggested other ideas, such as six-party talks – North and South Korea, the US, the People's Republic of China, Japan and Russia," Kelly said.

In the past, Pyongyang indicated that it wanted to transform its ties with US, South Korea and Japan, he said.

"North Korea has the ability to achieve such a transformation," said Kelly. "The question is whether it has the will to do so. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea will need to address concerns of the international community."

North Korea, Kelly said, "must turn from nuclear weapons and verifiably eliminate its nuclear programmes".

Bush has said he would be willing to reconsider a bold approach with North Korea, which would include economic and political steps to improve lives of the North Korean people and to move US-North Korean relationship towards normalcy, once the North dismantles the nuclear weapons programme and addresses "our long-standing concerns," Kelly said.

"While we will not dole out 'reward' to convince North Korea to live up to its existing obligations," he said, "we and the international community as a whole are prepared to pursue a comprehensive dialogue about a fundamentally different relationship with that country, once it eliminates its nuclear programme in a verifiable and irreversible manner and comes into compliance with its international obligations."

Of course, he said, for full engagement, North Korea will need to change its behaviour on human rights, address the issues underlying its appearance in the State Department's list of states sponsoring terrorism, eliminate its illegal weapons of mass destruction programmes, cease the proliferation of missiles and missile-related technology, and adopt a less provocative conventional force disposition.

"We remain confident that diplomacy can work, and that there will be a verifiable and irreversible end to North Korea's nuclear programme," said Kelly. "To that end, the United States is intensifying its efforts with friends and allies."

PTI