Tuesday, September 30, 2003

N Korea has no interest in crisis talks, wants more nukes


Communist North Korea said it had no interest in six-party talks and would forge ahead with nuclear weapons development as US, Japanese and South Korean officials admitted to growing confusion over the mixed signals from Pyonguang

A statement released by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said North Korea had made "every possible concession" at the initial round of talks in Beijing in August, only to be met with rejection by Washington.

"This compels the DPRK (North Korea) to discard any interest or expectations for the talks," the spokesman said. "As already clarified, the DPRK has not made any promise regarding the next round of six-way talks."

The statement from a foreign ministry spokesman said the United States was bent on using six-party talks to further its goal of disarming North Korea, a campaign that could "only lead to war".

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