In the United States, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry says it is time for the United States to directly engage North Korea in nuclear discussions.

In an interview with AP Radio Wednesday, Kerry said that the Bush administration has failed to have "real discussions" with the North that might lead to the establishment of systems to verify the communist state's nuclear intentions.

Kerry said former President Bill Clinton had succeeded in bilateral talks and had gotten inspectors and TV cameras into a North Korean nuclear reactor.

However, Kerry pointed out that the inspectors and cameras are not there anymore and that Pyongyang is now suspected of having even more nuclear bombs than before, thereby threatening the safety of the U.S.