N. Korea threatens new 'options'; China offers to mediate

SEOUL, South Korea -- China offered Tuesday to host talks between the United States and North Korea in a bid to end their standoff, and the North warned it was running out of patience with Washington, threatening to exercise undefined "options."

A vaguely worded statement from Pyongyang did not specify what options it was considering, but suggested the isolationist communist nation was prepared to escalate the crisis over its drive to develop nuclear weapons.

The White House welcomed diplomatic efforts but did not comment specifically on the China offer.

President Bush said Tuesday that nations in the region should "bind together" and tell the North Koreans "we expect them to disarm -- we expect them not to develop nuclear weapons." If the North does so, then Washington would consider new talks about food and energy aid to the impoverished nation.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly, who arrived in China from Seoul on Tuesday night for meetings on North Korea and its nuclear-weapons program, said Wednesday morning he was "very reassured" at how his talks with Asian nations about the issue are unfolding.

The U.S. military said North Korean soldiers have stepped up patrols in one area of the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas.

"Over the past week, we have some increased activity," said Lt. Col. Matthew Margotta, who commands a combined battalion of U.S. and South Korean soldiers stationed near the border village of Panmunjom. He described the activity as "not alarming, just unusual."

In a statement Tuesday, however, North Korea accused Washington of being insincere about prospects for dialogue. It insisted it was not moving to reactivate its nuclear facilities in order to wrest concessions out of the West.

The North defended its decision last week to withdraw from a global nuclear non-proliferation treaty and said in a second statement Tuesday that there was a limit to its "self control" in the face of what it calls U.S. aggression.

Possible further next steps for the North would include suspending its moratorium on missile tests -- as it has threatened -- or go ahead with a test. A more extreme option would be to begin developing weapons-grade plutonium at a reprocessing plant that they say is ready for operation.