Powell Says US Does Not Want the North to Collapse

US Secretary of State Colin Powell stated that the United States would not enter into any non-aggression treaty with the North, although the Untied States does not oppose holding a one-to-one talk with the North, which could take place during the six-way talk to be held to resolve the nuclear crisis caused by North Korea.

"There will be certainly an opportunity is a six-party meeting for them to say something directly to us if they choose to do so and for us to backwards. But the formal setting will be six," said Powell in an interview with Regional Syndicates, which was released by the State Department on Sunday. "There will be no secrets."

"And anything the North Koreans say to us will be shared with our friends and partners, because this is going to be an open, transparent process with our friends and partners," continued Secretary Powell. "There will be no secrets. So I`ve been trying to make it clear to the North Koreans that no particular benefit is gained by insisting on a one-to-one discussion or one-to-one negotiations as they like to say."

Powell pointed out, "There are ways to talk about security, and there are ways to talk about intent. North Koreans were given various assurances by the previous administration on a number of occasions. In the face of that, the North Koreans went ahead and created a second track of enriched uranium capacity."

With respect to the statement of Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz that the regime was on the verge of collapse, Powell said that the Untied States does not believe the regime is about to collapse, nor does it want that to happen.

"Right now there is a government there. It`s been there for a lot of decades, and that`s what I have to deal with," continued Powell. "So I can`t speculate on what the situation might or might not be. What the situation would be following a catastrophic collapse, I don`t really know. I don`t think it`s anything that any of North Korea`s neighbors at the moment wish to see."

Secretary Powell added, "And our policy, the President`s policy, is to work diplomatically with our partners and the North Koreans to find a diplomatic political solution to the problem."