U.S. finalizing North Korea policy

A ranking U.S. State Department official said Saturday that the Bush administration expects to adopt a final version of its policy toward North Korea in several weeks. He said that a review of North Korea policy should be completed in several weeks and further consultations with its allies, South Korea and Japan, would take place before its announcement.

In early March, secretary of state Colin Powell suggested the possibility of revising the 1994 Geneva framework agreement under which North Korea agreed to freeze its nuclear development program. The official said that Washington should abide by the accord but possible changes were being considered as part of the North Korea policy review. One of the alternatives under study called for the replacement of one of the two light-water reactors with a thermal power plant, he said.

[Washington, AP-Yonhap]