18 June 2003
N Korea threatens to step up weapons programme
By Andrew Ward in Seoul
Financial Tines

Pyongyang's comments came as Colin Powell, US secretary of state, said there was "no issue of greater urgency to the US" than North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.

Washington has been pressing Pyongyang to enter five-party talks about the nuclear issue, involving the US, North Korea, China, Japan and South Korea.

However, Pyongyang said it was becoming clear that the US offer of dialogue disguised "a plot to take harsh measures against us".

North Korea's foreign ministry said: "We will step up the strengthening of our nuclear deterrent force as a justified self-defence measure to counter the threat increasing daily from the US strategy to isolate and stifle North Korea."

Talks between the US, North Korea and China in April ended in acrimony after Pyongyang used the meeting to admit for the first time that it possessed nuclear bombs.

Washington declared the Beijing talks a "useful" start to the diplomatic process but called for Japan and South Korea to be invited to future meetings.

Mr Powell, attending a meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations in Phnom Penh, said Washington was committed to working with other countries to resolve the nuclear crisis.

"The sooner North Korea realises this and agrees to an expanded forum, the sooner we may find a way to solve this problem," he said. "We can't help a North Korea that does not abandon the goal of having nuclear weapons."

China appealed to both North Korea and the US when Li Zhaoxing, the country's foreign minister, said that all countries should work for a peaceful solution to the nuclear dispute and avoid "actions or words that could irritate the other side".

A European diplomat in Seoul said further talks were likely despite Pyongyang's resistence, pointing out that North Korean statements can rarely be taken at face value.

However, he cautioned that a negotiated solution to the crisis would be difficult to reach.

North Korea has demanded security guarantees and economic assistance in return for abandoning its nuclear programme but the US has refused to offer any reward for Pyongyang's disarmament.

The US has insisted that it would prefer a diplomatic resolution while not ruling out sanctions or military action.

Plans by the US and its allies to clamp down on North Korea's lucrative trade in missiles and illegal drugs could be the start of efforts to put pressure on the country's fragile economy.

In addition to its admission to possessing nuclear weapons, North Korea has also claimed to be reprocessing spent fuel rods that could be used to produce more weapons-grade plutonium. US officials admit they do not know whether Pyongyang is bluffing.