North Korea launched the attack after the official, John Bolton, slammed North Korean leader Kim Jong Il last week as a "tyrannical dictator" who made life a "hellish nightmare" for his people.

"We're not going to dignify North Korean comments about our undersecretary of state," said State Department deputy spokesman Philip Reeker.

"I think the undersecretary's speech speaks for itself ...it was a speech that reflected, I think, some obvious truths, and let's just leave it at that."

North Korea condemned Bolton, considered a Bush administration hawk, for hurling "malignant abuses" at its leader and warned his remarks cast doubt on whether Washington "truly" wants to negotiate with Pyongyang.

"Such human scum and bloodsucker is not entitled to take part in the talks in view of either the importance of the talks aimed to decide on peace and stability in northeast Asia or human dignity," a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

"We have decided not to consider him as an official of the US administration any longer nor to deal with him."

The spokesman, however, said Bolton's remarks would not sway North Korea's decision last week to join six-party talks on ending a nine-month nuclear crisis.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said in Crawford, Texas where President George W. Bush is on vacation, that it was not up to North Korea to decide who would represent the United States at talks also expected to feature North Korea, Russia, China, South Korea and Japan.

And he said Bolton, undersecretary for arms control and international security, was "speaking for the administration" when he gave the controversial speech last week.

Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage meanwhile Monday drew a quick character sketch of Kim, an often lampooned communist strongman.

Armitage was asked how the United States should deal with Kim on a radio show compered by conservative host Sean Hannity, who described the reclusive leader as "unstable."

"I wouldn't call him 'unstable,'" Armitage replied on the nationally syndicated program.

"You can call him a lot of things, but this guy has played a weak hand very well for years. And so he may be many things, but he is a canny character."

Armitage declined to be drawn into criticism of the previous Clinton administration, which reached an anti-nuclear deal with Pyongyang in 1994 that has since been violated.

"(Kim) partied on. But that's a different ball game and a different administration and we're trying to approach this in a way that it will actually make sense and that is multilaterally," Armitage said.

"It's not just our problem, others have a more immediate problem because they are in more immediate proximity," he added.

Armitage was not the only high-powered foreign policy figure sizing up Kim, who is at the center of a nine-month nuclear crisis with Washington.

Former secretary of state Madeleine Albright, described her meetings with Kim during her trip to Pyongyang in October 2000.

In highlights from her forthcoming book "Madam Secretary," Albright wrote that Kim "had a round face, wore large eyeglasses, and sported amazing puffed-up hair," and delighted in serving French wine at dinner.

Albright also related in the account, printed in September's issue of Vanity Fair magazine, her trip to a communist party pageant sprung upon her by Kim at which she saw around 100,000 performers perform synchronised dances.

She described the exhibition at a stadium, which later exposed her to severe criticism from conservative critics back home, as "an Olympics opening ceremony on steroids."

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