North Korea's government said it won't ``beg'' for talks with the U.S. as U.S. government officials said the deadlock must end over resuming six-nation discussions on North Korea's nuclear program. ``The army and the people of the DPRK (North Korea) do not wish to see the deteriorating relations with the U.S. or any military standoff with it,'' the official Korean Central News Agency said late yesterday. North Korea will ``never beg for dialogue or peace.'' The U.S. may consider ``other options'' if North Korea remains unwilling to return to the six-nation forum, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday at the end of a visit to China. The issue ``could not drag on forever,'' White House spokesman Scott McClellan said at a briefing yesterday. North Korea has rejected holding a fourth round of six- nation talks, citing U.S. hostile policy. Rice, making her first visit to Asia last week as secretary of state, traveled to China, South Korea and Japan to discuss the North Korea issue. Rice, in her news conference yesterday in Beijing, didn't elaborate on what options the U.S. may be considering. She called on China, North Korea's closest ally, to help bring North Korea back to the talks that have been interrupted since June. The U.S. doesn't intend to attack North Korea, Rice said. U.S. military exercise taking place with South Korea are increasing the danger of war, the Korean Central News Agency said yesterday, citing a commentary by the Rodong Sinmun newspaper. ``The prevailing situation is so dangerous and tense that any accidental case may spark an all-out war,'' the report said.
