US to use multiple means for NKs denuclearization

The United States said Thursday it will take multiple avenues to isolate North Korea and Iran and force them to abandon their nuclear weapons ambitions, Yonhap News reported in Washington.

"If they ignore their international obligations, we will pursue multiple means to increase their isolation and bring them into compliance with international nonproliferation norms," a National Security Strategy report released by the Obama administration said.

"Both nations face a clear choice. If North Korea eliminates its nuclear weapons program, and Iran meets its international obligations on its nuclear program, they will be able to proceed on a path to greater political and economic integration with the international community."

The report, mandated by Congress, emphasized the shift in national security strategy to multilateralism through diplomacy, a departure from the Bush administration's unilateralism allowing preemptive war, but it did not elaborate on the multiple means.

"The United States will pursue the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and work to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon," it said. "This is not about singling out nations -- it is about the responsibilities of all nations and the success of the nonproliferation regime."

The six-party talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs, stalled since December 2008, appear moribund since the sinking of a South Korean warship by a North Korean submarine.