Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=10/18/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=CHINA / KELLY / NOKOR (LONG ONLY)

NUMBER=2-295402

BYLINE=JIM RANDLE

DATELINE=BEIJING

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Washington's top-ranking diplomats on Asia and arms control are

in Beijing, hoping to enlist China in a diplomatic offensive against

North Korea's just-revealed nuclear weapons program. V-O-A's Jim Randle

reports.

TEXT: James Kelly, the assistant secretary of state for East Asia, and

John Bolton, the State Department's arms control chief, have been

in Beijing for two days, meeting with Chinese officials.

The U-S Embassy released no details, but Bush Administration officials

say they are hoping to enlist several key nations - including China - in

an international effort to pressure North Korea to renounce its program

of developing nuclear weapons.

The meetings follow North Korea's admission that it has continued its

nuclear program, despite an agreement it signed with the U-S to stop

such work.

President Bush called the news "troubling and sobering," and analysts

say the issue is certain to come up at Mr. Bush's summit meeting next

week with the Chinese President, Jiang Zemin.

Beijing's help would be valuable in the effort, because

China is one of North Korea's few friends.

Earlier, China's Foreign Ministry called an allegation that Beijing had

exported nuclear technology to North Korea "nonsense."

/// ZHANG ACT ///

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue says China supports a

nuclear-free Korean peninsula, and expressed the hope that the tensions

over the North Korean project can be resolved through peaceful dialogue.

North Korea's admission that it is still working on nuclear weapons

caused deep concern in Washington, South Korea, Japan, and elsewhere, partly because Pyongyang has also developedand tested missiles that could carry nuclear devices to distant cities.

(Signed)

NEB/HK/JR/BK/FC