Clinton sees possible North Korea power struggle

SEOUL (Reuters) - The possibility of a power struggle in North Korea made it more urgent to find a way to end the secretive state's nuclear weapons program, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday.

Speaking to reporters as she flew to South Korea, Clinton said "the whole leadership situation is somewhat unclear" in North Korea where leader Kim Jong-il is widely believed to have suffered a stroke last August.

"If there is a succession, even if it is a peaceful succession ... that creates more uncertainty and it also may encourage behaviours that are even more provocative as a way to consolidate power within the society," she said.

Clinton landed in Seoul on the third stop of her Asia tour following weeks of increasingly angry rhetoric by the North and reports it may be preparing to test a long-range missile that is designed to reach Alaska but has never successfully flown.

In addition to discussing North Korea's nuclear programs with South Korean officials Friday, Clinton said there was a 'pressing need' to decide how to talk to the North about its ballistic missile program.

South Korea's government is "confronting a lot of worries about what's up in North Korea, what the succession could be," she said.

"They are looking to us to use our best efforts to try to get the agenda of denuclearisation and non-proliferation back in gear."

The succession is one of the most closely guarded secrets in North Korea but intelligence officials have said the three men most likely to replace Kim were his eldest and youngest sons and a brother-in-law. There is also speculation he could be succeeded by a ruling group of his top aides.

SABRE-RATTLING

Talks among regional powers to try to push North Korea into giving up its attempts to build a nuclear arsenal, in exchange for an end to its pariah status and massive aid, have largely ground to a halt.

At the same time, North Korea has increased its sabre-rattling. Thursday, it accused the United States of planning a nuclear attack and said it was ready for war with South Korea.

A number of analysts said North Korea was trying to force the new U.S. administration to pay it more attention and also pressure the government in the South to end its hardline policy of holding back what used to be a free flow of aid until Pyongyang moved on giving up its nuclear weapons program.

"Our goal is to try to come up with a strategy that ... is effective in influencing the behaviour of the North Koreans at a time when the whole leadership situation is somewhat unclear," Clinton said.

"So you add to the already difficult challenge of working with the North Koreans, the uncertainties that come from questions about potential successions, this is a difficult undertaking, but we are committed to it."

Clinton has said she plans to pursue so-called six-party talks among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States to try to end North Korea's nuclear programs.

Clinton could announce as early as Friday her choice of Stephen Bosworth, a former U.S. ambassador to South Korea, to be the U.S. envoy to the talks, two sources familiar with the matter said.

However, one source said Bosworth, who is dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University near Boston, may take the post on a part-time basis, with U.S. diplomat Sung Kim handling the matter on a day-to-day basis.

(Reporting by Arshad Mohammed, writing by Jonathan Thatcher and Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Robert Woodward)