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North Korea denies preparing nuclear test: Czech envoy
 SEOUL - North Korean officials denied reports that the communist regime was preparing to conduct a nuclear test, a Czech delegation told Yonhap news agency Tuesday following a visit to Pyongyang this week. "North Korean officials said the reports of a nuclear test is nonsense," Lubomir Zaoralek, Zaoralek and his team stopped over in South Korea following a four-day visit to North Korea, Yonhap said. The six-member Czech delegation met with North Korean leaders, including Pyongyang's number two Kim Yong-Nam and Choe Tae-Bok, chairman of the North's Supreme People's Assembly, it said. The North Korean officials dismissed speculation that Pyongyang was preparing a nuclear test as Washington's ploy to further isolate the communist state, Zaoralek said. "But Choe Tae-Bok told me that North Korea does not want the situation to worsen," he said, adding Pyongyang reaffirmed a return to six-way nuclear talks only if Washington drops its "hostile" policy. He said talks with the North Koreans reassured him that North Korea was willing to resolve the crisis peacefully. Posted by: Steve White 2005-05-25 |
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