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SEOUL (Reuters) - A North Korean radio broadcast on Sunday appeared to confirm for the first time that the communist state has nuclear weapons in a statement criticizing the United States for raising tensions with disarmament demands.
The broadcast, monitored by South Korea (news - web sites)'s Yonhap news agency, came as Seoul braced for Pyongyang's reaction to an agreement by the United States and its allies to suspend vital fuel oil shipments to penalize North Korea (news - web sites) for its nuclear program.
North Korea's Pyongyang Radio said the country "has come to have nuclear and other strong military weapons to deal with increased nuclear threats by the U.S. imperialists," according to Yonhap, which monitors North Korean broadcasts.
But Yonhap said the language -- which appeared to go further than Pyongyang's previous claims to "be entitled to have nuclear weapons" -- may have been deliberately misleading or represent a rare mistake by the North Korean state broadcaster.
South Korean government analysts were not immediately available to comment on the report.
Tension in one of the last Cold War flash points has mounted since U.S. officials said last month that North Korea had admitted pursuing a nuclear arms development program in violation of a landmark 1994 agreement with Washington.
Under the 1994 Agreed Framework, the North promised to freeze its nuclear weapons program in return for fuel oil, paid for by Washington, and two light water reactors that cannot easily be converted to produce weapons material.
On Thursday, the United States, Japan, South Korea and the European Union (news - web sites) agreed to suspend the fuel oil shipments to North Korea from December in response to its violation of the pact.
North Korea's ruling party newspaper, in a report with similar content to the Pyongyang Radio broadcast, said the United States was the one who had broken the pact.
"The United States is spreading a whopping lie that the DPRK violates the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and the DPRK-U.S. agreed framework," said a Rodong Sinmun article, carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
"The lie is aimed to tarnish the international prestige and authority of the DPRK and isolate the DPRK on a worldwide scale. And it is a cunning plot to cover up the criminal nature of the U.S. posing nuclear threats to the DPRK and divert the public attention at home and abroad elsewhere."
DPRK is the acronym of the North's official title, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The communist newspaper said the United States had branded the North part of an "axis of evil," and listed Pyongyang as a target for pre-emptive nuclear attack.
"This is a declaration of war, a nuclear war against the DPRK. Therefore, the U.S. openly violated and destroyed the DPRK-U.S. agreed framework and nullified the North-South joint declaration on denuclearization," the Rodong Sinmun said.
North Korea also reiterated terms it set late in October for addressing U.S. nuclear concerns: a non-aggression pact and a guarantee of the impoverished state's sovereignty.
The broadcast, monitored by South Korea (news - web sites)'s Yonhap news agency, came as Seoul braced for Pyongyang's reaction to an agreement by the United States and its allies to suspend vital fuel oil shipments to penalize North Korea (news - web sites) for its nuclear program.
North Korea's Pyongyang Radio said the country "has come to have nuclear and other strong military weapons to deal with increased nuclear threats by the U.S. imperialists," according to Yonhap, which monitors North Korean broadcasts.
But Yonhap said the language -- which appeared to go further than Pyongyang's previous claims to "be entitled to have nuclear weapons" -- may have been deliberately misleading or represent a rare mistake by the North Korean state broadcaster.
South Korean government analysts were not immediately available to comment on the report.
Tension in one of the last Cold War flash points has mounted since U.S. officials said last month that North Korea had admitted pursuing a nuclear arms development program in violation of a landmark 1994 agreement with Washington.
Under the 1994 Agreed Framework, the North promised to freeze its nuclear weapons program in return for fuel oil, paid for by Washington, and two light water reactors that cannot easily be converted to produce weapons material.
On Thursday, the United States, Japan, South Korea and the European Union (news - web sites) agreed to suspend the fuel oil shipments to North Korea from December in response to its violation of the pact.
North Korea's ruling party newspaper, in a report with similar content to the Pyongyang Radio broadcast, said the United States was the one who had broken the pact.
"The United States is spreading a whopping lie that the DPRK violates the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and the DPRK-U.S. agreed framework," said a Rodong Sinmun article, carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
"The lie is aimed to tarnish the international prestige and authority of the DPRK and isolate the DPRK on a worldwide scale. And it is a cunning plot to cover up the criminal nature of the U.S. posing nuclear threats to the DPRK and divert the public attention at home and abroad elsewhere."
DPRK is the acronym of the North's official title, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The communist newspaper said the United States had branded the North part of an "axis of evil," and listed Pyongyang as a target for pre-emptive nuclear attack.
"This is a declaration of war, a nuclear war against the DPRK. Therefore, the U.S. openly violated and destroyed the DPRK-U.S. agreed framework and nullified the North-South joint declaration on denuclearization," the Rodong Sinmun said.
North Korea also reiterated terms it set late in October for addressing U.S. nuclear concerns: a non-aggression pact and a guarantee of the impoverished state's sovereignty.
