Top US arms control official John Bolton, meeting here with senior South Korean officials Wednesday, said he insisted that North Korea's nuclear violations be brought before the UN Security Council, a move certain to infuriate Pyongyang.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Seoul was not opposed to UN role but took issue with the timing, saying efforts to resolve the crisis through negotiations should be exhausted first.

"We are now exerting our efforts for a diplomatic solution. It is better for us to resolve the crisis outside the UN framework at this time," said ministry spokesman Kim Sun-Heung.

He described as "incorrect" a newspaper report, citing an interview with Foreign Minister Yoon Young-Kwan, that said South Korea had rejected US calls for the UN Security Council to intervene.

"What is important is the timing," said Kim, suggesting South Korea wanted to avoid provoking Pyongyang which has vehemently opposed efforts to refer the crisis to the world body.

Last month Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said if the standoff was brought up for discussion at the Security council, North Korea would consider the step "a prelude to a war and take a corresponding measure."

Bolton arrived from China Tuesday for a three-day stay in Seoul before heading for Tokyo on the third and final leg of his Asia swing on Thursday.

He is to meet senior officials including Foreign Minister Yoon and President Roh Moo-Hyun's national security advisor Ra Jong-Yil and foreign policy advisor Ban Ki-Moon.

His visit comes as Chinese-led efforts to bring North Korea to the negotiating table for multilateral talks to end the nine-month old nuclear crisis appear to have stalled.

A senior official here said North Korea was considering the latest proposal from the United States for three-way talks that would be followed immediately by expanded five party, or even six party talks.

Earlier this month, Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo went to Pyongyang and Washington to broker a new round of talks.

"North Korea is now considering this proposal which was handed to them by China," said the official who declined to be named.

Yoon, speaking here Monday, said Chinese consultations with North Korea on multilateral talks had slowed down and he said the ball was now in North Korea's court.

In China, Bolton met vice foreign minister Zhang Yesui and said later that China, North Korea's closest ally, had done all it could to facilitate a resumption of talks.

China hosted trilateral talks with the United States and North Korea in Beijing in April, but they were widely seen as a failure.

Recently, Beijing has intensified efforts to broker a second round amid claims from Pyongyang that it had reprocessed enough spent fuel rods for several atomic devices.

In talks with top officials here, Bolton said he would also address a US drive to block North Korean exports of weapons of mass destruction.

The crackdown, under the so-called Proliferation Security Initiative, is aimed at blocking exports of missiles and nuclear material by North Korea and other "rogue" states.

Washington is also keen on blocking Pyongyang's exports of illegal drugs. Drug and missile exports are widely believed to be a significant source of hard currency for North Korea.

WAR.WIRE