North Korea likens Clinton to 'primary schoolgirl'

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, UPDATES with detail)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, July 23 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Thursday urged U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton to stop backbiting Pyongyang over its nuclear program, comparing
her to a "primary schoolgirl" who doesn't understand the situation.

In remarks carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), North
Korea's foreign ministry spokesman responded to Clinton's recent remarks that
likened the country to "unruly teenagers" who seek to gain U.S. attention through
nuclear and missile activities.
"Sometimes she looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going
shopping," the unidentified spokesman said.
"It is our view that she can make even a little contribution to the
implementation of the U.S. administration's foreign policy as secretary of state
only when she has understanding of the world," he was quoted as saying in the
report carried in English.
In a television interview this week, Clinton said North Korea is "acting out" to
"try to elevate them to center stage." The chief U.S. diplomat said Washington
would not give the North the satisfaction and also downplayed the threat North
Korea poses to the U.S.
North Korea rejected Clinton's criticism, saying it was "the U.S. that helped the
DPRK to become the world focus." The North's nuclear program is a self-defense
measure against hostile U.S. policy, the spokesman claimed.
"Her words suggest that she is by no means intelligent," he said.
"The DPRK (North Korea) has taken necessary measures to protect the nation's
sovereignty and right to existence in order to cope with U.S. hostile policy and
nuclear threats, not to attract anyone's attention."
The spokesman also called Clinton "a funny lady as she likes to utter such
rhetoric, unaware of the elementary etiquette in the international community."
North Korea bolted out of the six-party denuclearization talks in April,
protesting U.N. condemnation of its long-range rocket launch the same month.
Other members of the talks -- South Korea, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia --
are now at a regional security forum in Phuket, Thailand, where they are
discussing ways of bringing North Korea back to the dialogue table.
Clinton, currently participating in the ASEAN Regional Forum, has said she has no
plans to meet North Korean officials there.
A North Korean official attending the forum, Ri Hung-sik, insisted the current
standoff between Pyongyang and Washington stems from the "deep-rooted hostile
policy" of the U.S. against Pyongyang.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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