TOKYO (AP) - North Korea threatened Thursday to use the delay in six-party nuclear talks to bolster its military ``deterrent force,'' a phrase the isolated communist nation often evokes in reference to its nuclear weapons program. ``It's not bad that the resumption of nuclear talks are delayed. During that period, we will make more deterrent force,'' said North's top nuclear envoy Kim Kye Gwan, speaking at a news conference in Tokyo. ``We will react in an ultra hardline manner if the United States continues to apply pressure and sanctions. We will never yield to pressure.''| Wonder if they'll yield when they're broke? ... Nah. |
| All about the money. Freezing their funds looks way smart in retrospect ... |
After the Tokyo discussions, Chinese chief negotiator Wu Dawei said there was no possibility of resuming talks by the end of April, saying the sanction issue was the chief stumbling block. ``We'll continue to make efforts,'' Wu said. ``At the moment, our prospects are still unclear.''
The chief U.S. negotiator on the North Korean nuclear issue, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, met with counterparts from Japan and South Korea on Wednesday and said the five nations urging North Korea back to the talks were forming a common strategy. Hill said the decision was now up to North Korea. ``I think that the six-party talks are in everybody's interest including their interest, and I think they ought to make a decision to come back,'' Hill told reporters upon arrival in South Korea.
South Korean chief negotiator Chun Young-woo, who also left Tokyo on Wednesday, said North Korea's linkage of the U.S. financial sanctions to the nuclear talks was not in Pyongyang's best interest. ``North Korea's position has not changed,'' Chun conceded.
Speculation had been high that Hill would meet with Kim, but such an official meeting never materialized. The two had a brief encounter Tuesday, said Chun, but it was not a full meeting.