N. Korea threatens to scuttle nuke talks

SOUTH KOREA: North Korea vowed Sunday to bolster its "self-defensive deterrence," warning a military exercise launched by South Korea and the United States could jeopardise nuclear disarmament talks.

The exercise had clouded the atmosphere of six-party talks on the North's nuclear weapons programmes, the North's state newspaper Minju Joson said in a commentary.

"This may entail such serious consequences as escalating the tension between the DPRK (North Korea) and the US and scuttling the six-party talks for the settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, arranged with so much effort."

The warning came as the week-long RSOI (Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration) and Foal Eagle exercise began across South Korea Sunday.

The allies say the exercise is purely defensive.

But North Korea has condemned Washington for carrying out the exercise while negotiations are underway with Pyongyang as part of six-nation talks over the North's nuclear programmes.

"If the aggressors ignite a war on this land, the army and people of the DPRK will resolutely retaliate against them with merciless deadly blows," the Korean National Peace Committee said in a statement.

North Korea would bolster its "self-defensive deterrence" for defending its dignity and sovereignty, it said.

The exercise is "harmful to the settlement of the nuclear issue and peace of the Korean Peninsula and driving the situation to a phase of confrontation and war," it said.

The committee also warned the exercise would drive inter-Korean relations to collapse.

Seoul, Monday, AFP