The Bush administration, under fire for what critics call its failed North Korea policy, expressed confidence on Tuesday that "one way or another" Pyongyang ultimately would give up its nuclear weapons, Reuters reported. "One way or another they're not going to have these systems," said Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the top U.S. diplomat dealing with Pyongyang. "And so the real issue for them is what are the terms under which they'll give them up," he added. Hill's two-hour appearance before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations panel kept the focus on unsuccessful U.S. diplomatic efforts to revive six-party negotiations on the North's nuclear program, which Pyongyang has boycotted for one year. But he reiterated the U.S. position that other options remain under discussion and added a dose of reality to recent optimism that Pyongyang may soon come back to the table. "North Korea's unwillingness to return to the table casts increasing doubts on how serious it really is about ending its decades-old nuclear ambitions," he said. --More 2310 Local Time 2010 GMT
