Tensions rise with North Korea

SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea has asked Japan to help bring North Korea to multilateral talks to defuse tension over the communist country's suspected nuclear weapons programs, the presidential office said Monday.\nSouth Korea's Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan made the request to his Japanese counterpart Yoriko Kawaguchi in Tokyo on Sunday, the presidential Blue House said in a news release.\nNorth Korea insists on bilateral talks, saying the nuclear dispute is only with the United States. Washington wants to resolve the issue through talks involving Russia, China, Japan and South Korea.\n"South Korea and Japan have agreed that North Korea must take positive actions to swiftly resolve the nuclear issue and (they agreed) to continuously urge North Korea not to exacerbate the situation," the news release said.\nYoon will return home later Monday, wrapping up a weeklong visit to Washington and Tokyo.\nDuring his visit to Washington, Yoon presented what he called a "road map" on bringing Pyongyang to multilateral talks.\nCoinciding with Yoon's trip, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun's top security adviser, Ra Jong-il, left for Moscow and Beijing on Sunday to discuss the crisis. Russia and China have said they support a Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons.\nRa was quoted by the London-based Financial Times newspaper as saying that his government believes the dispute could be resolved by laying a gas pipeline from Russia to North Korea to ease Pyongyang's chronic power shortages.\nThe newspaper quoted Ra as saying that the idea was still at an early stage and needed to be discussed with allies and North Korea.\nRa said the gas could fuel power stations and provide a peaceful alternative to the nuclear program, which Pyongyang says is necessary for generating electricity.\nThe presidential Blue House said it could not immediately confirm the report.\nOn Monday, North Korea claimed the United States may attack the communist state after the war in Iraq.\n"Once it has become apparent that the U.S. choice is to unleash a war against the DPRK, the Korean army is keeping itself fully prepared to cope with their new war preparations," said Kim Hae Yon, an officer of the Korean People's Army, according to KCNA. DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.