http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/ap/20010328/wl/nkorea_japan_us_1.html

TOKYO (AP) - North Korea's state-run media on Wednesday accused the United States and Japan of boosting joint development of Washington's proposed anti-missile defense system, saying that could push the North to respond with force.

``If they continue to provoke military confrontation with North Korea - following this path to war - we will have no option but to respond with firm resolve,´´ said the commentary on the North´s official Korean Central News Agency. It was monitored in Tokyo by the Radiopress News Agency.

The threat followed an accusation on Tuesday that the United States has been trying to derail rapprochement between South and North Korea as a prelude to war between the divided neighbors.

President Bush has announced plans to deploy a missile defense system capable of protecting the United States and its allies from nuclear attack by rogue nations. The countries usually named are North Korea and Iraq.

But KCNA has accused the United States and Japan of fabricating missile threats from the North to justify the missile defense program.

Other countries, including Russia, China, France and Germany, have criticized the proposed defense system as a potential threat to the goal of global disarmament.

``Notwithstanding such criticism, the United States and Japan have obstinately pursued their own course,´´ the news agency said in the Wednesday commentary.

Nearly two years ago, the communist North test-fired a long-range missile that flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific, rattling nerves across East Asia and causing the U.S. military to raise its guard toward Pyongyang.

U.S.-North Korean ties thawed during the last months of former President Clinton's administration. Bush, however, has taken a tougher stance toward North Korea.