US seeks 'diplomatic solution' with North Korea

SEOUL, South Korea -- Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Tuesday that Washington would seek a "diplomatic solution" to North Korea's nuclear weapons program.\nNorth Korea reiterated its rejection of a U.N. watchdog's appeal to abandon its nuclear program and to accept foreign inspections.\nArmitage, who arrived in Seoul on Tuesday, discussed North Korea with President Kim Dae-jung, Foreign Minister Choi Sung-hong and Defense Minister Lee Jun.\n"In my meetings today, we reaffirmed our common interest in finding a diplomatic solution to North Korea's destabilizing pursuit of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction," Armitage said in a written statement.\nWashington and its allies are trying to pressure the North to give up its nuclear ambitions.\nEarlier Tuesday, North Korea's state-run news agency, KCNA, said the communist state rejects as "unilateral and biased" the International Atomic Energy Agency's resolution urging North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program and open its facilities to outside inspectors.\nNorth Korea cannot accept the Nov. 29 resolution because "the United States dubbed the (North) an 'axis of evil' and a target of the pre-emptive nuclear attack, creating a serious crisis," KCNA said.\nDuring the meetings in Seoul, Armitage also discussed Washington's possible war against Iraq.\nDomestic media reported that South Korea is willing to provide logistical support. The country dispatched engineering and medical units during the 1991 Gulf War.\nArmitage was scheduled to leave for China on Wednesday and to visit Australia later in the week.