N. Korea reaffirms boycott of nuclear talks

SEOUL, April 29 (Yonhap) -- North Korea will make good on its pledge to quit the
multilateral disarmament talks and bolster its nuclear deterrence despite
sanctions from the United Nations, the communist nation's leading newspaper said
Wednesday.

"We state again that our country will no longer enter into the six-way talks and
will strengthen nuclear deterrence power in every way," the Rodong Sinmun,
published by the North's powerful Workers' Party, said in a commentary carried by
the country's official news agency.
The commentary said that the international community's punishment of North
Korea's rocket launch reminded it of the importance of beefing up its
self-defense measures.
"In the unjust and unstable world today, whose international law, relations, and
order are swayed by power, we can defend our sovereignty and show dignity and
prowess only through defensive nuclear deterrence capability," it added.
"Under current situations, we are not interested in the six-way talks any more,"
the commentary said, while accusing the U.S., Japan, and other nations of
attempting to draw concessions from Pyongyang through increased pressure and
sanctions.
Last week, a U.N. Security Council committee blacklisted three North Korean firms
suspected of being involved in Pyongyang's development and trade of missiles and
weapons of mass destruction.
It was the first concrete followup measure to the council's presidential
statement condemning the North's April 5 rocket launch.
North Korea, infuriated by the document, announced that it will never return to
the six-way talks also involving the U.S., South Korea, China, Russia, and Japan.
It also said that it has resumed reprocessing plutonium at its main nuclear
facilities in Yongbyon.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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