..and the beat goes on
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N. Korea: U.S. Leading Region Toward War
AP World News
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN 04/24/2003 06:42:54 EST
North Korea accused the United States of leading the region toward war Thursday in an apparent
attempt by the communist nation to increase pressure on negotiators holding a second day of talks on
its nuclear programs.
There was no indication whether any progress had come from the second day of meetings Thursday.
The chief U.S. negotiator, Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly, declined to answer questions
upon returning to his hotel in the afternoon, saying only that the sides "had talks."
Discussions were scheduled to end Friday. Kelly was to fly to Seoul the same day to meet with South
Korean officials.
North Korea continued to try to ratchet up the pressure and is believed to want economic aid in
exchange for concessions.
Its leaders are outraged over U.S. moves to cut off oil shipments because of its suspected nuclear
weapons program, and fears it is next on Washington's list for military action.
"The situation on the Korean Peninsula is so tense that a war may break out any moment due to the
U.S. moves," the North's KCNA news agency.
It said relations with the United States had hit "rock bottom" because President Bush named North
Korea as part of an "axis of evil," along with Iran and Iraq.
KCNA said the war in Iraq had shown the only way for a country to protect itself was to have a strong
military deterrent. Officials from Seoul and Washington say the swift U.S.-led victory in Iraq prompted
North Korea to agree to the nuclear talks.
The North's Korea People's Army vowed to "put all people under arms and turn the whole country into a
fortress" and urged its soldiers to become "human bombs and fighters ready to blow up themselves" to
protect leader Kim Jong Il.
"If the U.S. imperialists and their followers intrude into even an inch of the inviolable sky, land and sea
of the (North) ... the (army) will deal merciless deadly blows at the aggressors," North Korean Defense
Minister Kim Il Chol was quoted as saying by KCNA.
Still, North Korea said it was ready to settle the dispute over its suspected nuclear weapons programs
and that the "master key" for successful talks was for the United States to drop its hostile policy
toward Pyongyang.
Late Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and Secretary of State Colin Powell talked by
phone and agreed that the Beijing talks were beneficial, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported.
The U.S. Embassy and Chinese Foreign Ministry said they had no details of Thursday's discussions.
But ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said the talks were "conducive to mutual understanding and
finding ways to resolve the North Korean nuclear question peacefully."
North Korea and China fought against the United States in the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended
without a peace treaty. North Korea and Washington have no formal relations and are still technically
at war.
In a likely reference to North Korea's demand for a nonaggression treaty with Washington, KCNA said:
"The U.S. should settle the talks from a sincere stand and strive to settle the essential issue."
Washington has refused to offer a formal treaty but says it would consider some sort of written
assurance.
China, the North's ally and major aid donor, nevertheless says it doesn't want Pyongyang to acquire
nuclear weapons and has appealed for a negotiated settlement to the crisis.
The talks are being led by Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly and Ri Gun, deputy director of
American affairs for North Korea's Foreign Ministry. China's delegation is led by Fu Ying, director
general of the Asian Affairs Department of its Foreign Ministry.
The United States hopes eventually to include Japan and South Korea in the talks. Kelly briefed South
Korean and Japanese diplomats in Beijing following Wednesday's discussions, the U.S. Embassy
said. He is scheduled to visit Seoul for meetings immediately after the Beijing talks.
Washington says the North revealed during a visit by Kelly to Pyongyang in October that it was trying
to develop nuclear weapons in violation of a 1994 pledge. The North has disputed the U.S. claim.
The North likely wants aid for its economy, which has been crippled by the loss of Soviet subsidies and
years of drought and mismanagement.
Since the latest nuclear tensions erupted, Pyongyang has become the first country to withdraw from
the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and restarted a plutonium-producing reactor. |
