Alexander Vershbow said doing so would be in the interest of global security and, he added, "most especially it's in the interests of the North Koreans themselves."
The U.S. diplomat made the comments in a speech sponsored by the Institute for Global Economics, a local think tank.
Vershbow also said he hopes that six-party negotiations aimed at getting North Korea to abandon its nuclear program will resume soon.
A North Korean official said on 13 February in Pyongyang that it was unlikely that the talks will resume soon.
(AP)
