A former diplomat in Pyongyang cast doubt Wednesday on North Korea's willingness to denuclearise, saying its officials believe Libya's regime would have survived had it kept its nuclear weapons.

Diplomatic efforts are under way to revive six-nation talks on the North's nuclear disarmament. South Korea and the United States have held preparatory discussions with the North since July.

But Peter Hughes, the outgoing British ambassador to Pyongyang, said senior officials there had told him that "if Colonel Kadhafi had not given up his nuclear weapons, then NATO would not have attacked his country".

The Libyan strongman was ousted by rebel forces supported by NATO air attacks, more than seven years after he announced his country would give up programmes to develop weapons of mass destruction.

Hughes also told a forum in Seoul the North's regime "has made very clear that their over-riding policy is total denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

"You have to look behind that to find out what it means. It basically means in real terms that there would have to be total denuclearisation of the world before they will give up their nuclear weapons."

His comments were reported by Yonhap news agency and confirmed by the British embassy.

The North quit the six-party forum in April 2009 and staged its second nuclear test a month later.

It is pressing for an unconditional resumption of the talks. South Korea and the United States want some prior actions, such as the shutdown of a uranium enrichment programme which could be reconfigured to make bombs.

Many analysts are sceptical the North will ever hand over its existing atomic material.

earlier related report
S. Korea to build naval base near disputed island
Seoul (AFP) Sept 28, 2011 - South Korea will build a naval base near an island claimed by both Seoul and Tokyo so that its warships can deploy faster than Japan's in case of disputes, a lawmaker said Wednesday.

Chung Mi-Kyung of the ruling Grand National Party said the government would build a $300 million naval base on Ulleung island by 2015.

Ulleung is the closest South Korean territory to the Seoul-controlled islets in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) which are known as Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japan.

Chung cited data from the transport ministry which would partly finance the project, saying construction would begin in 2012. The ministry confirmed the report.

The new base will feature a 300-metre (990-feet) pier big enough to accommodate Aegis destroyers and the 14,000-tonne amphibious landing ship named Dokdo, Chung said.

"It will help strengthen our territorial rights on Dokdo as our naval ships can reach the islands quickly in times of disputes with Japan," she said in a statement.

Once the base is complete, Seoul would be able to send its ship to Dokdo in an hour and a half compared to the current four hours, she said. Japan's ships would take about three hours.

South Korea has for decades deployed a small marine police force on the rocky islets.

The dispute over them flared up again in June when Korean Air mounted a test flight of its new aircraft over Dokdo. Tokyo in response ordered its public servants to boycott Korean Air for a month.

Three conservative Tokyo lawmakers who intended to visit Ulleung to reassert their country's claim to Dokdo were refused permission to enter South Korea in early August.

South Korea the same month lodged a strong diplomatic protest against Japan's 2011 defence white paper, which describes the islands as Japanese territory.

Older South Koreans still have bitter memories of Japan's harsh colonial role over Korea from 1910-45.