WASHINGTON, December 23 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Monday, December 23, warned North Korea that it would be mistaken to think that the Washington is too preoccupied with Iraq to take action against the North’s nuclear program.

He insisted the United States was capable of fighting two major regional conflicts, if necessary, but that battling the Stalinist North diplomatically was more “rational.”

On Sunday, December 22, the U.S. urged North Korea not to restart its frozen nuclear facilities, saying Pyongyang’s decision to remove U.N. monitoring equipment from them “raises further serious concerns.”

“We urge the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea [DRPK] not to restart its frozen nuclear facilities,” said Louis Fintor, a spokesman for the State Department, on Sunday, December 22, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“A move to restart them would fly in the face of the international consensus that the North Korean regime must fulfill all its commitments, and in particular dismantle its covert nuclear weapons program,” he added.

Speaking after North Korea heightened tension on the Korean peninsula by removing U.N. seals at a laboratory suspected of being used to produce weapons-grade material, Rumsfeld said the North’s leader, Kim Jong-Il, should not act under the cover of the international showdown with Iraq, reported AFP.

Asked about the North’s actions at a press briefing, Rumsfeld said: “I have no reason to believe that you’re correct that North Korea feels emboldened because of the world’s interest in Iraq. If they do, it would be a mistake.”

Pressed on whether United States can pursue conflicts with Iraq, North Korea and the war on terrorism, Rumsfeld said “we are perfectly capable of doing that which is necessary.”

Some experts have questioned whether the United States can fight two different wars at the same time.

However, the hawkish Defense Secretary insisted “we are capable of fighting two major regional conflicts.” He added: “We’re capable of winning decisively in one and swiftly defeating in the case of the other, and let there be no doubt about it.”

Bill Clinton said last week that he came close to ordering an attack on North Korea in 1994 during a standoff over the North’s suspected nuclear weapons program.

Tensions were eased when North Korea agreed to an accord under which it froze its nuclear program in return for international energy aid. Its move to resume operating the Yongbyon nuclear reactor is in contravention of the 1994 accord.

Diplomacy for North Korea Only

But the Bush administration has distinguished between its answers to Iraq and North Korea insisting that there is still room for a negotiated resolution to problems with North Korea.

The United States fought with South Korea against the North in the 1950-53 Korean War and the two Cold War rivals have never come close to establishing relations since then.

It has a longstanding policy of consulting with South Korea and Japan on coordinating North Korea policy and has recently held closer consultations with China and Russia on how to handle the North.

North Korea is one of the members of President George W. Bush’s so-called “axis of evil” along with Iraq and Iran. He said all three are major weapons proliferators.

“The three countries in the axis of evil are each different, each represents a danger to the world, and they’re quite different in their circumstance,” said Rumsfeld.

He claimed diplomacy had been tried with Iraq “and it fell flat on its face. “The situation in North Korea is a fairly recent one. The diplomacy that’s under way there is in its early stages with the United States and the interested neighboring countries. It seems to me a perfectly rational way to be proceeding.”

Iraq has accepted U.N. resolution 1441, is cooperating fully with the U.N. inspectors, and has challenged the United States to send its spy agents to Baghdad to locate sites Washington claims contains Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.