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N Korea says US guarantee comes first

"The US demand that [North Korea] drop `the nuclear program first' means that [North Korea] should lay down arms and work for the US as a servant."

a commentary carried by the official news agency, KCNA

North Korea rejected a key US demand yesterday that the communist nation first renounce its nuclear programs before winning any security guarantees from Washington, saying that such conditions amounted to "slavery" and that the country would first "rather die."

"The US demand that the DPRK drop `the nuclear program first' means that the DPRK should lay down arms and work for the US as a servant. The DPRK can never accept it. It would rather die than having peace in exchange for slavery," North Korea said in a commentary carried by the official news agency, KCNA.

DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the official name for North Korea.

The announcement comes as North Korea, the US and four other nations fine tune their positions ahead of planned international talks on defusing a standoff over North Korea's nuclear weapons programs.

South Korea, Japan and the US are working on an accord for participating nations to sign.

It reportedly requires North Korea to agree to dropping its nuclear programs and allow inspections. The other countries would agree to provide a security guarantee, but it is unclear in what order they would unfold.

Washington has repeatedly said it is willing to provide North Korea a written security guarantee, but only after the government in Pyongyang renounces its nuclear ambitions.

North Korea said yesterday that both actions must come at the same time in order "to comprehensively and fairly settle the nuclear issue," according to KCNA.

"The DPRK's blueprint of a package solution is simple, clear-cut and fair," KCNA said. "It is the DPRK's stand that both sides should lay down arms at the same time and coexist in peace."

The US, China, Russia, Japan and the two Koreas are trying to arrange another round of six-nation talks on persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear programs. No date has been set, but organizers are shooting for sometime this month. The first six-nation talks, in Beijing in August, ended without much progress.

Over the weekend, North Korea said it would not allow Japan to participate in the talks if Tokyo insisted on pushing its agenda to include discussions on North Korea's past practice of abducting Japanese citizens to train its communist spies. North Korea calls that a dead issue, but Japan is adamant about including it.

Japanese officials said yesterday they intend to participate in the next round despite the North's opposition.

"As long as they are called `six-way talks,' we intend to attend them," a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said on condition of anonymity, adding that Japan has "no choice" but to bring up the abduction issue unless the situation improves.

North Korea yesterday also demanded that the US compensate it for halting work on two nuclear reactors there, suggesting that could also complicate plans for six-nation talks.

The US-led Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, or KEDO, announced the yearlong suspension last month to pressure the North into abandoning its nuclear weapons ambitions. The US, South Korea, Japan and the EU belong to the consortium.
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