"North Korea is trying to raise the stakes by stirring tension ahead of the six-way nuclear talks," an official in the foreign ministry's Northeast Asia division told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"It is unproductive," he said. "Japan, South Korea and the United States continue to work toward a resumption of six-way talks without any conditions."

North Korea shocked the world by firing a missile over Japan into the Pacific Ocean in 1998 and calling it a satellite launch. The following year it agreed to a moratorium on long-range missile testing.

A joint statement after a September 2002 summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Pyongyang would "further maintain the moratorium on missile launching in and after 2003."

Kim promised Koizumi at a 2004 follow-up summit to continue the moratorium, according to the foreign ministry official.

The Japanese government said earlier Thursday that it expected North Korea to resume the six-nation talks on its nuclear program soon, after Pyongyang announced an indefinite suspension on February 10.

North Korea said Thursday it was no longer bound by a self-imposed moratorium on long-range missile testing because of "hostile" US policy towards the country.

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