The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, Washington

Having long played down the idea that she might someday run for president, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday said she had no plans to serve as a vice president either. There has been speculation that Republican presidential front-runner Sen. John McCain of Arizona might tap Rice as his running mate. "I have always said that the one thing that I have not seen myself doing is running for elected office," Rice said at a news conference. "I didn't even run for high school president. It's sort of not in my genes." While her comments were not a categorical refusal to run, Rice also said she had no expectation of playing a role in the campaign by speaking out for McCain or other candidates. "We all take life a day at a time in terms of trying to get the job done," she said, saying she planned to concentrate on her work as secretary of state. "I don't expect in any way to be involved in this campaign." Another report adds: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on the eve of an Asia tour, pressed Friday for North Korea to disclose not only its nuclear weapons programs but also its alleged proliferation activities.

Rice said she would meet officials from South Korea, China and Japan to boost North Korea's disarmament but appeared to rule out any breakthrough when she said it would not be "useful" for her to talk to North Korean officials.

The countries involved in the issue "have the right set of incentives and disincentives to address not just denuclearization, which obviously is extremely important, but also proliferation," Rice said.

It was not clear if Rice -- speaking to reporters before visiting Seoul on Monday and then Beijing and Tokyo in the following days -- was referring to exports of just conventional weapons or also nuclear-related materiel.

The United States has accused North Korea of being a leading global proliferator of missiles, but the cash-strapped country has refused to stop the exports, a major source of hard currency earnings.