DPRK threatens to boost nuclear arsenal
(AP)
Updated: 2006-04-13 18:29
North Korea said on Thursday it might boost its nuclear deterrent if
six-country talks on ending its atomic programs remained deadlocked, but said it
would return if Washington met a demand to unfreeze it assets.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher
Hill (R) meets South Korea's Vice Foreign Minister You Myong-hwan in Seoul
April 13, 2006. The chief U.S. envoy to multilateral talks on ending North
Korea's nuclear programmes said on Thursday Pyongyang was boycotting the
discussions, but urged patience for the process.
[Reuters] |
Pyongyang's top envoy to the
stalled negotiations told a news conference in Tokyo the United States must lift
what the North considers to be financial sanctions against it.
"I told them the minute we have the funds or I have the funds in my hand I
will be at the talks. But if they continue to come with pressure and sanctions,
we will respond with extremely strong measures," envoy Kim Kye-gwan said.
"There is nothing wrong with delaying the resumption of the six-party talks.
In the meantime we can make more deterrent. If the United States doesn't like
that, they should create the condition for us to go back to the talks."
In an official media report on Thursday, North Korea reiterated it has been
building a nuclear deterrent to counter what it views as Washington's hostile
policy toward it.
Washington has clamped down on a Macau-based bank it suspects of assisting
Pyongyang in illicit financial activities, including money laundering.
Kim has been in Tokyo, where he attended a security symposium along with most
of the other chief delegates to the six-party talks, including U.S. envoy
Christopher Hill.
At the airport before departing, Kim said it was up to the United States to
seek bilateral discussions.
"I always have patience," he said.
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