Russia's top envoy to South Korea has urged Pyongyang to rejoin the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Speaking at the National Assembly in Seoul, Russian Ambassador Teymuraz Ramishvili said that so-called "half measures" were not the answer to stopping Pyongyang's alleged nuclear arms development.
The ambassador said an enforced halt or ban on North Korea's nuclear weapons program could not be seen as a permanent solution to the current nuclear crisis. The envoy then went on to suggest that the North's re-joining of the IAEA would alleviate related concerns.
The ambassador also rejected speculation that the Korean Peninsula might become caught up in the kind of turmoil taking place in Iraq.