Washington: The United States has said that it will not seek a change of regime in North Korea if Pyongyang decides to dismantle its nuclear weapon infrastructure on the lines of Libya.

Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper in an interview that the US is not for regime change in North Korea "now".

He was asked "if North Korea decides to dismantle nukes as Libya did, would the United States accept a Kim Jong II administration (the current administration)"?

"Our policy is not regime change for North Korea now," he said, adding, "So I think that answers your question. The answer would be yes."

However, he did not explain what he meant by "now".

Asked about the difference between the situation in North Korea and Iraq, where the US wanted a regime change, he said the situation in North Korea is completely different.

"North Korea is surrounded by nations - China, Japan, the US is out there, and South Korea - which basically share in the need to have a nuclear-free peninsula. That is a pretty good basis on which to start moving forward."

"Iraq, on the other hand, was completely different. Iraq had used weapons of mass destruction on her neighbours and on her own citizens. Iraq had already attacked Kuwait, and continued to frighten States in the neighbourhood.

"Some of the neighbours of Iraq - Iran on one side, Syria on the other - were not particularly encouraging of finding a solution to the problems of Iraq. So the situation was remarkably different," he added.