U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that North Korea should return to disarmament talks and end its international isolation. The North Korean government announced Thursday that it had nuclear weapons, saying it needed them as protection against an increasingly hostile United States. Rice said in a TV interview that Washington would examine the statement and consult with allies, but said North Korea had no reason to believe it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself against the United States. "The president of the United States said in South Korea that the United States has no intention to attack North Korea," she told RTL TV of the Netherlands. "They have been told they can have multilateral security assurances if they will make the important decision to give up their nuclear weapons program." "So there is really no reason for this, but we will examine where we go next," Rice added. She urged Pyongyang to return to negotiations. "They have their path available to them," Rice said. "This is a state that has been isolated completely by its entire history. ... So the North Koreans should reassess this and try to end their own isolation." Rice was in Luxembourg, the last stop of her eight-day trip to Europe and the Middle East.
