day trip that the United States is a serious negotiating partner. Powell, who will also discuss regional issues such as U.S. military redeployments and Taiwan's relations with Beijing, can also prod China to lean more on its poor, communist North Korean neighbor, they added. "The simple answer (to get North Korea back to talks) is to get China to twist their arm more," a senior State Department official said. Ahead of the trip, the United States has tried to persuade North Korea U.S. policy will remain unchanged after the Nov. 2 vote. Powell's deputy, Richard Armitage, reminded Pyongyang the sentiment in Congress would likely persist for tough negotiations regardless of who was in the White House. "We've got two weeks to our election and, for whatever reason, the North Koreans seem to want to wait until after that election," he said. "I think they have miscalculated the importance of seeing a change here in Washington." --SP 0105 Local Time 2205 GMT
