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N.Korean General Says U.S. Brought Talks to Collapse

Reuters | April 24 2005

The United States has brought six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programs to a collapse, the chief of the general staff of the North Korean army said on Sunday.

Vice Marshal Kim Yong-chun, a member of the North's powerful National Defense Commission, told a national meeting his country would steadily bolster its nuclear capability to counter an invasion by the United States.

"The U.S. brought the six-party talks to a collapse and has staged large-scale madcap war exercises targeted against the DPRK after massively shipping ultra-modern war equipment and a nuclear strike group into South Korea in a bid to bring down our system," Kim was quoted as saying by the official KCNA news agency.

DPRK is short for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"The army and the people of the DPRK will never remain a passive on-looker to the U.S. moves to isolate and stifle the DPRK, but steadily bolster its nuclear deterrent for self-defense to cope with the enemies' reckless moves for military aggression," he said.

The comments came as the top U.S. negotiator to the nuclear talks, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, prepared in Seoul for discussions on Monday in renewed diplomatic efforts to restart talks to end Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.

Three rounds of the talks by the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, Russia and China produced no substantive progress. A fourth round never materialized after Pyongyang said Washington must first drop what it called a hostile policy against it.

The United States has repeatedly said it has no intention of attacking the North and that its forces on the Korean peninsula act as a deterrent against possible North Korean aggression.

North Korea is the world's most militarized country with nearly 1.2 million active troops. Its leader Kim Jong-il rules the country as chairman of the Defense Commission under his "songun" or "military first" policy.

North Korean media reports on trips by Kim to inspect military units have increased in recent days, and KCNA also accused the South of firing a gunshot across the Demilitarized Zone border, calling it part of premeditated provocations designed to raise tension. The South denied the incident.

Hill will meet with counterparts in Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo. He said the countries will look closely at how to end Pyongyang's delaying of the talks.

 

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