North Korea Downplays Nuclear Program Threat

Paraphrased by:
Steve Waldrop
September 5, 2003

North Korea cried foul at U.S. demands that it end its pursuit of nuclear weapons and dismissed as "senseless" U.S. concerns that it might sell nuclear devices or materials to terrorists or use them to attack its neighbors.

"It is utterly groundless that our nuclear deterrent poses a "threat" to somebody," the Rodong Simmun, the Communist party's flagship newspaper, said in a commentary, according to North Korea's official KCNA news agency.

"Unless someone provokes DPRK, its nuclear deterrent will remain unused," said the newspaper, referring to the initials of the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

In a separate blast, North Korea's Foreign Ministry made fun of U.S. demands that it abandon its nuclear program. "They promise not to shoot and we are supposed to lay down weapons first," said the ministry's statement, released by its embassy in Moscow. "It's a game even kids won't play."

Left unclear was what sort of provocation might cause the isolated Communist state to use nuclear weapons.

That question is at the heart of international efforts to defuse the crisis that began ten months ago with North Korea's claim that it had undertaken a secret uranium enrichment program in violation of a 1994 agreement to scuttle its nuclear weapons programs.

The three days of talks involving six nations, were aimed at shutting down North Korea's nuclear weapons programs, and ended with no breakthroughs but with a promise to keep talking.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters that tall six parties, China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, North Korea and the United States- had pledged not to do anything to escalate tensions.

Even before the talks had concluded North was demanding that the United States sign a non-agression treaty and normalize relations before it would shut down it nuclear programs.