The Pentagon said on Thursday it was preparing for the possibility that North Korea had decided to abandon six-party nuclear talks and a top official said diplomacy with Pyongyang would soon have to produce results. At a congressional hearing, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill and Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Richard Lawless -- the Bush administration's senior Asia experts -- kept up the pressure on Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table and promised U.S. "flexibility" if it did. But they indicated American patience was wearing thin and the impasse could not go on forever. However, Washington is also aware that any other U.S. options for dealing with the growing nuclear problem are grim. Hill and other officials have repeatedly said the administration would consider "other options," including military options, if the the talks collapsed or if Pyongyang tested a nuclear weapon. For nearly a year, North Korea has boycotted China-hosted six-party talks aimed at persuading the isolated communist state to abandon nuclear weapons-related activities. Other states involved are South Korea, Japan and Russia. --More 2350 Local Time 2050 GMT
