North Korea has urged the US to lift financial sanctions against the Stalinist state, saying that such a move is a prerequisite to progress in six-party talks to end its nuclear weapons drive.
A foreign ministry spokesman, quoted early yesterday by Pyong-yang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), also warned the country would take "all corresponding self-defense measures" should Washington fail to comply.
"It is quite unreasonable for the DPRK to sit at the negotiating table with the party keen to `bring down its system' and discuss the issue of dismantling the nuclear deterrent built up to defend it," the spokesman said.
"Should the US persist in its sanctions and pressure in violation of the joint statement agreed upon by the six parties, the DPRK [North Korea] will be left with no option but to take all corresponding self-defense measures," he said.
"Lifting the financial sanctions against the DPRK is essential for creating an atmosphere for implementing the joint statement and prerequisite to the progress of the six-party talks," he said.
In September, Pyongyang agreed in principle to end its nuclear weapons drive in return for security guarantees, energy aid and other benefits.
But the US has since toughened its stand against North Korea's alleged US dollar counterfeiting, money laundering and proliferation of unconventional weapons.
In October, the US blacklisted eight North Korean firms allegedly involved in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
The North Korean spokesman said Pyongyang's "stand is to faithfully fulfill its commitment made in the joint statement and realize the denuclearization."
But he accused the US of stepping up a "pressure offensive" that ran counter to the spirit of the September deal.
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