North Korea's public admission yesterday that it was seeking nuclear weapons is being viewed by analysts here as a bid to call attention to its demands for one-on-one nuclear talks with Washington, which have been largely ignored.
For the first time, North Korea's official media said the Stalinist state would have "no option" but to seek nuclear weapons to counter the threat posed by the US.
But the official Korean Central News Agency also said in a commentary the pursuit of nuclear weapons was aimed at reducing the Stalinist state's massive conventional military spending.
Impoverished North Koreans who have suffered years of famine would benefit when the savings were passed on to them, it said.
"This is the first time that North Korea has publicly come out to say what many people already know, that they are developing nuclear weapons" said Yu Suk-ryul of the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, which is affiliated with South Korea's Foreign Ministry.
"Reading between the lines, it looks as though they see that Washington has not been as scared as they had hoped by their threats of the past eight months," Yu said.
He said the North Koreans are looking ahead to three-party nuclear crisis talks later this week among delegates from the US, Japan and South Korea in Honolulu.
"Despite North Korea's denials, I think they are still looking to get some mileage out of the nuclear blackmail tactic," Yu said.
The latest admission is just another indication of North Korea's frustration at US failure to meet Pyongyang's demands for one-on-one talks to resolve the eight-month-old crisis, said South Korea's former UN ambassador Park Soo-gil, how a Seoul National University professor.
He dismissed as a "joke" the argument put forward by North Korea that it was seeking nuclear weapons as a way to lower its military spending.
"North Korea began to strip its clothes off a while ago and nobody is paying as much attention to the strip show anymore," he said.
"So they are doing everything they can to get the US to take notice. But this is a joke," Park said.
Pyongyang complained bitterly that Washington has failed to respond to its "bold proposal" made two months ago at nuclear talks in Beijing to abandon its nuclear ambitions in return for significant economic, political and other benefits.
"The US doesn't seem to be that interested in another round of three-party talks that Beijing is hoping to arrange," he said.
"North Korea is trying to do everything it can to show it is serious about talks with the US and to get rid of their nuclear programs. But who really knows," Park said.
He said it was becoming increasing clear that Washington was unlikely to waver from its hardline stance toward Pyongyang.
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