SCENARIOS - Next steps in North Korea nuclear crisis

By Jon Herskovitz

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has increased pressure on regional powers trying to persuade it to abandon nuclear arms in exchange for massive aid by saying on Tuesday it had produced more plutonium to make atomic weapons.

Here are a few scenarios of what may happen next in the sputtering nuclear discussions among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States:

THE LESS TROUBLED DIPLOMATIC ROAD

- United States meets North Korea's demand for direct talks ahead of multinational discussions by sending its envoy for the state to Pyongyang. The North also meets U.S. demands that appear to include talks between its envoy Stephen Bosworth and Kang Sok-ju, a North Korean vice foreign minister who is often by leader Kim Jong-il's side at his few high-level meetings.

- International disarmament-for-aid talks restart, perhaps in a slightly different format, with the North agreeing to resume taking apart its plutonium-producing Yongbyon nuclear plant in return for aid and better diplomatic standing.

THE MORE LIKELY DIPLOMATIC ROUTE