AP. 16 December 2001. N. Korea Rejects Nuke Inspection. SEOUL -- North Korea on Sunday rejected U.S. demands for an inspection of its alleged nuclear weapons program and refused to participate in talks on its missile development. "There is neither condition nor need for the Democratic People's Republic of (North) Korea to accept the 'nuclear inspection,'" said Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party. "The same is the case with the 'missile issue,'" it added. North Korea has increased anti-U.S. rhetoric since President Bush warned this month that it and Iraq would be "held accountable" if they developed weapons of mass destruction to carry out terrorism [read: developed weapons in which to defend themselves]. Bush has demanded that the North allow U.N. experts to inspect its nuclear program. The North is believed to have stockpiled enough plutonium to make one or two atomic bombs. The U.S. president has also expressed frustration over the North's silence to his proposal in June to resume dialogue and discuss the communist country's missile program and conventional arms. "The U.S. is going to use the dialogue with the DPRK as a lever to pressure and an opportunity to find a pretext for military provocation," said Rodong. The report was carried by the North's official news agency, KCNA, which was monitored in Seoul. The North has accused the United States of preparing to make it the next target after Afghanistan in the U.S.-led anti-terrorism campaign. North Korea maintains a 1.1 million-member military, the world's fifth largest. The United States [the world's largest military] keeps 37,000 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War. That war ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
