Clinton sees possible North Korea power struggle

By Arshad Mohammed

SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday raised the possibility of a power struggle in North Korea, saying that made it more urgent to find a way to end the secretive state's nuclear weapons programme.

Speaking to reporters as she flew to South Korea, Clinton said "the whole leadership situation is somewhat unclear" in North Korea, whose leader Kim Jong-il is widely believed to have suffered a stroke last August.

"If there is a succession, even if it is a peaceful succession ... that creates more uncertainty and it also may encourage behaviours that are even more provocative as a way to consolidate power within the society," she said.

Speculation has been rife over who might eventually replace the communist world's first dynastic leader. Much of the attention has focussed on whether the leadership might pass to one of his sons, his brother-in-law, or a ruling group made up of his top aides.

While Kim's father openly groomed him for years as successor, he has given no hint as to who might take over from him.

Clinton arrived in Seoul on the third stop of her Asia tour following weeks of increasingly angry rhetoric by the North and reports it may be preparing to test a long-range missile that, in theory, could reach Alaska.

South Korea's government is "confronting a lot of worries about what's up in North Korea, what the succession could be," she said.

"They are looking to us to use our best efforts to try to get the agenda of denuclearisation and non-proliferation back in gear," she added.