Rodong Sinmun, mouthpiece of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, urged South Korea to join with the North in opposing what it said were US plans for war on the peninsula.

"A touch-and-go tension in the true sense of the word is persisting in Korea due to the US imperialists' reckless moves to start a war against the DPRK (North Korea) under the pretext of the nuclear issue," the report said.

"Unavoidable is the confrontation between the Koreans in the north and the south, who are advancing along the road of peace and peaceful reunification, and the US, which is working to block it."

The report, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), came as a working group meeting opened in Beijing bringing together delegates from the Koreas, China, Japan, the United States and Russia.

North Korea has long sought to drive a wedge between South Korea and the United States, who have been allies since they fought off an invasion by the communist North during the 1950-53 Korean war.

"It is a false propaganda to claim that the US is a 'friendly country' and an 'ally' of South Korea," the report said.

"In fact, the US has brought disgrace, humiliation and disaster to South Korea."

North Korea has so far been frustrated in its efforts to win South Korean support for its demand for concessions from the United States in return for a nuclear freeze.

The working level talks in Beijing were supposed to pave the way for full-scale six way talks before the end of June.

Differences remain wide between Washington, and Pyongyang, however, and a breakthrough is unlikely in the deadlock that has lasted since Washington accused North Korea of running a clandestine nuclear weapons program 19 months ago.

Pyongyang has offered to freeze its nuclear facilities only if Washington provides economic aid and a non-aggression pledge. Washington wants the nuclear schemes scrapped as a first step. Two rounds of six-party talks have failed to narrow the differences.

All rights reserved. Copyright 2003 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

Quick Links
SpaceWar
Search SpaceWar
Subscribe To SpaceWar Express

SpaceWar Search Engine

SUBSCRIBE TO THE SPACEWAR NEWSLETTER SubscribeUnsubscribe