North Korea claimed it has bolstered its nuclear arsenal to prevent an invasion as its premier began a visit yesterday to China.
The trip comes on the heels of a visit by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who urged Beijing to pressure the North to return to disarmament talks.
Meanwhile, a South Korean official called on the Bush administration to clarify its intelligence after it reportedly exaggerated claims that North Korea sold nuclear materials to Libya.
The Washington Post reported on Sunday that US officials told its negotiating partners that the North had exported material directly to Libya, but omitted mention of intelligence showing that the supplies first went to Pakistan with no evidence that the North knew it would be resold to Libya.
The US allegation of direct sales to Libya had been aimed at convincing countries in the six-nation disarmament talks -- which also include China, Japan, Russia and South Korea -- that they needed to press the North harder for a resolution to the two-year-old nuclear standoff.
That claim is also widely believed to have been part of the reason the North declared on Feb. 10 that it had nuclear weapons and would indefinitely boycott the deadlocked disarmament talks.
Im Jong-suk, spokesman for South Korea's ruling Uri Party, called on Washington to clarify its information on the North.
"If the United States keeps making propaganda aimed at North Korea or uses a different card such as raising the issue at the UN Security Council instead of the six-party talks, this will be an unfortunate choice for solving the North Korea nuclear crisis and peace on the Korean Peninsula," Im said in a statement yesterday.
"If alliances are based on the trust of shared information, this could cause severe problems between South Korea and the United States," he said.
On Monday, Rice said in Beijing that Washington would "have to look at other options" if the North doesn't return to the nuclear talks. She didn't elaborate, but they would likely include seeking sanctions through the Security Council.
Although Rice has also said the nuclear standoff "cannot go on forever," she has repeatedly emphasized the US has no plans to attack the North.
Despite Rice's reassurance, North Korea said late on Monday that it had bolstered its nuclear arsenal to prevent the alleged threat of an invasion.
"We have taken a serious measure by increasing nuclear arms arsenal in preparation for any invasion by enemies," the North Korean Central Broadcasting Station said in a commentary, according to a report by South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
The North has frequently claimed it would increase its nuclear deterrent in response to the perceived threat of invasion by the US, but the Monday announcement appeared to be the first time Pyongyang has claimed to have actually done so.
Still, efforts to resume the disarmament talks continued.
North Korean Premier Pak Pong-ju yesterday began a visit to China, the North's last major ally. Pak was to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao (
Chinese officials say they will discuss the nuclear standoff with Pak, but haven't given details. Washington and Seoul have been calling on China to pressure North Korea into returning to the negotiating table.
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