02-10-2005, 11:06 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>We have N-bomb: N Korea </b>
Reuters/ Seoul
North Korea declared on Thursday for the first time that it possessed nuclear weapons and said it was suspending participation in six-way talks on dismantling its nuclear programs for an indefinite period
The announcement sent out shockwaves among neighbouring capitals, coming when some of the world's largest military powers have been trying to coax the reclusive communist North to return to talks aimed at ending its nuclear ambitions.
"We had already taken the resolute action of pulling out of the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) and have manufactured nukes to cope with the Bush administration's evermore undisguised policy to isolate and stifle the DPRK," the North's Korean Central News Agency quoted the Foreign Ministry as saying.
Â
DPRK is short for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The statement is the North's first official response since President Bush said in his inauguration speech on January 20 that he was committed to ending tyranny.
While Bush did not specify countries, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has singled out North Korea as one of six she said practiced tyranny.
The tirade from the Foreign Ministry referred directly to US statements as Pyongyang's reason for boosting its defenses.
"The true intention of the second-term Bush administration is not only to further its policy to isolate and stifle the DPRK pursued by the first-term office but to escalate it," the Foreign Ministry said.
Â
"The Bush administration termed the DPRK, its dialogue partner, an outpost of tyranny, putting into the shade its hostile policy, and totally rejected it," the ministry said.
"This deprived the DPRK of any justification to participate in the six-party talks," it said.
North Korea had sought a conciliatory gesture from the United States with the inauguration of Bush for his second term and the appointment of Rice as new secretary of state, analysts said.
However, the Foreign Ministry stressed the nuclear arsenal was purely defensive and Pyongyang still wanted to use dialogue to rid the Korean peninsula of atomic weapons, KCNA said.
Â
"BELLICOSE SIGNS"
But it said it saw no compelling reason to return to the six-way talks amid bellicose signs from the second Bush administration.
"We have wanted the six-party talks but we are compelled to suspend our participation in the talks for an indefinite period till we have recognised that there is justification for us to attend the talks," the Foreign Ministry said, adding it would wait for conditions conducive to positive results.
Washington has recently stepped up efforts to revive the six-party talks, sending an envoy to the region last week with letters for Chinese President Hu Jintao, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
The United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia have held three rounds of talks with North Korea since August 2003 and have been trying to coax Pyongyang back to the negotiations.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Reuters/ Seoul
North Korea declared on Thursday for the first time that it possessed nuclear weapons and said it was suspending participation in six-way talks on dismantling its nuclear programs for an indefinite period
The announcement sent out shockwaves among neighbouring capitals, coming when some of the world's largest military powers have been trying to coax the reclusive communist North to return to talks aimed at ending its nuclear ambitions.
"We had already taken the resolute action of pulling out of the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) and have manufactured nukes to cope with the Bush administration's evermore undisguised policy to isolate and stifle the DPRK," the North's Korean Central News Agency quoted the Foreign Ministry as saying.
Â
DPRK is short for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The statement is the North's first official response since President Bush said in his inauguration speech on January 20 that he was committed to ending tyranny.
While Bush did not specify countries, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has singled out North Korea as one of six she said practiced tyranny.
The tirade from the Foreign Ministry referred directly to US statements as Pyongyang's reason for boosting its defenses.
"The true intention of the second-term Bush administration is not only to further its policy to isolate and stifle the DPRK pursued by the first-term office but to escalate it," the Foreign Ministry said.
Â
"The Bush administration termed the DPRK, its dialogue partner, an outpost of tyranny, putting into the shade its hostile policy, and totally rejected it," the ministry said.
"This deprived the DPRK of any justification to participate in the six-party talks," it said.
North Korea had sought a conciliatory gesture from the United States with the inauguration of Bush for his second term and the appointment of Rice as new secretary of state, analysts said.
However, the Foreign Ministry stressed the nuclear arsenal was purely defensive and Pyongyang still wanted to use dialogue to rid the Korean peninsula of atomic weapons, KCNA said.
Â
"BELLICOSE SIGNS"
But it said it saw no compelling reason to return to the six-way talks amid bellicose signs from the second Bush administration.
"We have wanted the six-party talks but we are compelled to suspend our participation in the talks for an indefinite period till we have recognised that there is justification for us to attend the talks," the Foreign Ministry said, adding it would wait for conditions conducive to positive results.
Washington has recently stepped up efforts to revive the six-party talks, sending an envoy to the region last week with letters for Chinese President Hu Jintao, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
The United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia have held three rounds of talks with North Korea since August 2003 and have been trying to coax Pyongyang back to the negotiations.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->